The hidden Head
by bennr01
Summary: A story diverging from canon after book 16. The Yotsuba do not publicly name Miyuki their next head, keeping it a secret instead. After Maya's abrupt death, the other heads are searching for her successor. After all, the Yotsuba are out for vengeance and nobody wants to leave this bloodlusting family unsupervised. Rated M for deaths.
1. Preface

**The hidden Head - Preface**

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**Disclaimer**

This fanfic is based on the light novel _Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei_, also known as _the irregular at magic high school_. _Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei_ is written and owned by _Satou Tsutomu_.

I am not a native english speaker and this is my first fanfic, so please forgive me my mistakes and do not strip me of my number due to incompetence. I would be very pleased if you could provide me with constructive criticism and point out my mistakes. Thanks in advance.

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**About this story**

_The hidden Head_ takes place directly at the end of the _Yotsuba inheritance act_ in book 16. The goal of this fanfic is to explore a _what-if_ story in which the Yotsuba do not announce Miyuki becoming their new heir, but is forced to become the new head. **For the sake of the plot, this fanfic assumes the following changes to the canon story:**

At the Yotsuba's new years family gathering, Miyuki is named the new head of the Yotsuba. Maya claims Tatsuya as her son and announces his engagement to Miyuki. She informs the clan that this is to be kept secret until the time is ripe. Due to this, most of book 17 does simply not happen as it was mostly centered around the revelation of Miyuki and Tatsuya.

The rumors regarding the Kuroba being part of the Yotsuba were dismissed in the eyes of the public. No public entity or magic family believes the Kuroba being part of the Yotsuba. This story requires Maya to be the only known Yotsuba. The only exceptions are:

The _101 IMEB_ knows of Tatsuya and Miyuki

Kudou Retsu knows of their connection to the Yotsuba

Saegusa Kouichi speculates that Tatsuya and Miyuki are Miyas children, but he does not know for sure.

There is a change to the background of the terrorist attack on the Ten Master Clans Conference, but you will see this during the story.

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**Short introduction to the formating:**

**Bold:** headerlines (time/place/POV). The POV will be omitted for most of the story, in which case it defaults to an outside perspective.

_Italic:_ thoughts and interludes. And of course sound effects. (**Edit 08.02.20:** after reading your feedback, I have decided to change speech into normal text formating.)

Normal: text and speech.

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I hope you will enjoy this story.

2


	2. Ch01 - Touching a dragons scales

**The hidden Head - Chapter 1 - Touching a dragons scales**

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**February 5th/Hakone/Maya POV**

_Kaboom_

The explosions sounded loudly.

_Really? Puppet terrorists now?_ Maya let out a sigh. It was a pretty nice conference until now. She had managed to defame Kouichi for his collaboration with Zhou Gongjin and managed to replace the Kudou with the Saegusa-opposed Shippou family. But now they were attacked by puppet terrorists? These small bombs could not even harm her.

Maya, along with the heads of the Ten Master Clans, was currently warding of the puppet bombers. These bombs were not a danger to any of them, but this was not the case for the poor civilians around them. Screams rang out around them and she heard a few cries, probably by children.

Truth to be told, Maya enjoyed hearing those screams. While she was not so cold hearted that she would actively try to make others cry, she saw these miserable screams as a sign of fairness. It showed her that she was not the only one suffering, not the only one tortured by this cruel world.

Maya let out a small grin. Looking around, she could tell that she was the only one seeing something nice in this. Most of the other heads had a worried expression on their face. Some were angry. Maya switched back to her cold expression.

Mutsuzuka Atsuko, one of the few persons who had a friendly relationship to Maya, wore a slightly desperate expression. Maya could tell that she was fanatically searching for a way to save these children.

"We need to leave this hotel ASAP", one of the other heads said. Maya knew that everyone roughly agreed to this statement as the whole group hurried towards the hotel lobby.

Once they arrived at the ground floor, they headed straight to the exit.

Suddenly Maya noticed a fast movement from of the corner of her eye. Turning around, she saw Atsuko running to a group of small children, most of them crying. A puppet was right beside them.

Atsuko quickly got rid of the puppet. It did not take her more than a second to do so. Afterwards she attempted to comfort the kids.

"Watch out!" screamed Maya while running towards her. Another puppet had suddenly appeared right beside Atsuko. Maya quickly activated her _Meteor Stream_ to kill the puppet, but suddenly felt a wave of nausea and a strong headache fell over her.

"Shit, Antinite!" screamed someone.

Antinite was annoying, but Maya could still deal with it. Even under this circumstances it was not problem for Maya to cast her magic. In fact, most Yotsuba could use their personal magic under the influence of antinite, but their ability to cast "normal" magic varied. For Maya, the only problem antinite posed was the strong distraction caused by the headache.

She quickly got rid of another bunch of puppets.

"Pay attention to your surroundings! This is a battlefield. Now, hurry up and -"

This was all Maya could say before she heard another explosion, this time directly beside her.

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**Same time/Highway towards Hakone/Tatsuya POV**

_Faster!_

Tatsuya was currently riding his motorbike towards Hakone. 15 minutes ago he and Miyuki received an emergency transmission. Apparently there was a terrorist attack on the TMCC.

_You can't die now, Maya! Miyuki is not yet ready to become the head of the Yotsuba!_

After meeting up with Miyuki and Minami, Tatsuya had told them to stay in the school. Their relationship with the Yotsuba was still a secret, so they can't just rush towards the the site of the TMCC. Nevertheless, Tatsuya still had to go. While Maya would probably be fine, her security took top priority right now. Of course, Tatsuya still held Miyuki's security the highest, but he trusted Minami to keep her safe. And even if Minami would be unable to keep her safe, Tatsuya could still use his elemental sight to provide them with long-range support and defense.

He currently did the same for Maya. He was ready to heal here anytime and could kill all puppets in her surroundings within a split second, but keeping both Miyuki and Maya safe while riding a Motorbike on a highway was hard, even for Tatsuya.

Initially Miyuki wanted to tag along, but after Tatsuya explained the situation to her and told her that he was worried about her security, Miyuki finally decided to stay behind.

Suddenly a car besides Tatsuya switched lanes. It was clear as day that the driver did not look into the mirror before switching lanes.

_Idiot!_

Such outbursts were rare for Tatsuya, but he could not afford any mistakes right now.

Tatsuya had managed to evade, but this incident caused his concentration to waver for a bit.

Tatsuya refocused on his _elemental sight_. Watching over Miyuki was like his second nature, so he managed to keep his sight on her. His sight on Maya, on the other hand, was interrupted. After reestablishing his view, his heart nearly stopped.

He saw her lying heavily wounded on the hotel floor. Tatsuya immediately prepared to cast _Regrowth_ on her, but instead his heard sunk only deeper.

Maya was dead.

Not on the "her heart is no longer beating"-level dead, but on the "her brain is goop and even _Regrowth_ cant fix her"-level dead.

Tatsuya took out his phone and called Mitsugu.

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**Same time/Somewhere on the way towards Hakone/Mitsugu POV**

Mitsugu was currently trying to get a better understanding of the situation. A few minutes ago he was still performing his "normal" work when he suddenly received an emergency message from the guardians tasked with the protection of Maya. While these guardians were not allowed to enter the site of the TMCC, they could still watch over Mayas surroundings.

Mitsugu was a bit furious. Who the hell dared to attack an event in which the head of the Yotsuba participated? Were they out of their mind?

Mitsugu knew that Hanabishi, one of the butlers, along with several family members were already headed towards Hakone. Soon the situation would be under their control again.

At least Mitsugu thought so.

After hearing the ringing of his phone, he looked at the display in disdain. _Shiba Tatsuya, hmm?_ Mitsugu still could not like Tatsuya. Maya claimed him to be her son, but Mitsugu could not bring himself to believe it. If Tatsuya would really be Maya's son, Maya would probably have it proclaimed happily after birth. On the other hand, keeping something a secret from the family also fit her character.

Well, it did not really matter. Maya said that Tatsuya was her son, so he was it. The orders of the head are absolute. Well, most of the time at least. Mitsugu was one of the people who believed this and also preached this philosophy towards his kids.

He annoyingly answered the phone.

"What is it?"

"She is dead." came the reply.

_She? Who did Shiba mean?_ But he quickly came to an realization. Tatsuya would only call if it is related to the Yotsuba. He said _she_, so it must be a female. Tatsuya would not bother to inform Mitsugu about the death of a guardian. If Miyuki died, Tatsuya would probably go berserk without calling him. If it was Ayako, even Tatsuya would say a few more words towards her father. If another Yotsuba of the youngest generation died, Mitsugu would not be informed by Tatsuya. And Tatsuya could not care less about most of the older family members. This leaves only one person.

"Please tell me you are joking" he asked for confirmation.

"Unfortunately not." His hopes were crushed.

"Can't you use Regrowth?"

"No. I still can't resurrect the dead."

This was bad. This was very bad. While Mitsugu feared his cousin, he also admired her. He knew that Maya was an integral part of the Yotsuba and an excellent leader.

"Where are you now?" He asked Tatsuya.

"I am currently heading there." Their conversation was deliberately short and vague. No names, no locations and no dates. This was standard Yotsuba training. Even when using encrypted communications, it was still better to take additional precautions. It was well known that some magician could easily overcome their encryption. Fujibayashi Kyouko was a perfect example for this.

"OK. I am also heading there. Lets meet outside".

"Understood." The call ended.

Mitsugu frowned. He could only look at the future in disdain and hope that Tatsuya was wrong or lying. But he already knew that Tatsuya tends to neither of those possibilities.

He quickly took his keys, gun and other equipment and hurried towards his car.

He just left the door when one of his family members stopped him.

"Bad news! Toushou-sama was hit by an explosion and does not show any sign of movement!" So it was true.

"You are late! I already received a call about this a few minutes ago. Immediately prepare a top-class hospital nearby!" Mitsugu gave a few more orders before he left.

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**Half a hour later/Hakone/Tatsuya POV**

Tatsuya had just arrived in Hakone. He headed to a dark alley near the hotel. He was surprise to find Mitsugu already waiting for him.

_How did he arrive here so fast?_ But a short glimpse on his face told him the truth. Mitsugu was completely out of breath. He must have hurried here as fast as possible, probably breaking quite a few traffic regulations. Not that this matters, the Yotsuba could deal with this like it was child's play.

"How is the situation?" Tatsuya asked.

"Not good. I just arrived here but I can already see the chaos." Mitsugu shook his head.

"What about Maya?"

"One of the other heads carried her out. The medics tried their best, but they already declared her dead." When Mitsugu said this, Tatsuya caught a glimpse of sadness in his eyes. Looking more closely, he could see that Mitsugu must have shed a few tears. Maya's death must have affected him. Maybe he would currently be crying in grief if it were not for the mission.

"We must recover her corpse. Maybe we can still fix her." Tatsuya said this, but he already knew that this was not possible. Still, sometimes even Tatsuya hoped.

"Ahem, yes. We also have to destroy any possible samples of her DNA." All japanese clans tried their utmost to protect their genetic informations. While cloning and genetic modifications were officially outlawed, other countries still attempted this in secret. The Yotsuba did this too, their guardians are a prime example for top-notch genetic engineering.

"We need to disguise. We can not allow our identities and our relationship to Maya to be found out. We also need a distraction."

"Hanabishi brought a few standard-issue Yotsuba uniforms. I will have a distraction prepared in a minute."

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**5 minutes later/Hakone/Tatsuya POV**

The standard-issue Yotsuba uniform was black. A black full-body suit with a silver mask, a black hood and of course, a black, tattered cloak. The tattered cloak was a variation of a military poncho, which could be used for various tasks such as building a tent. The cloak did not have to be tattered, but most Yotsuba agreed that it looked stylish.

Tatsuya was currently standing in a building near the hotel. The building itself was evacuated due to the terrorist strike. Mitsugu was standing beside him.

In a few seconds, an explosion will distract the crowd. In this moment, Mitsugu and Tatsuya would run towards Maya. A Yotsuba member hiding inside the crowd would cast a mental interference magic to make them hard to notice. Mitsugu would take Maya and run with her into an ambulance. This ambulance arrived just a minute ago and was of course manned by Yotsuba members.

At the same time Tatsuya would cast _Mist dispersion_ to get rid off any equipment which interacted with Maya. Afterward he will join Mitsugu. The doctors posed a slight risk, but the Yotsuba would check them later.

A plan B was already prepared. In case of their failure, Tatsuya and Mitsugu would probably have to fight the rest of the heads. Tatsuya could easily kill most of them with the exception of Juumonji. He would have to be attacked by one of the mental interference magicians in the crowd.

Unnecessary to say, both of them wanted to avoid this situation. Which is why they were going to give their best for this mission.

_Kaboom!_ The sound of an explosion rang out and Mitsugu and Tatsuya ran forward.

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**5 Minutes later/Hakone/Kimiko POV**

"Here is No Kimiko, live in Hakone. Roughly 45 minutes ago, several explosions occurred in a hotel in Hakone. At first thought to be caused by a gas leak, it now appears to be in fact caused by terrorists. Furthermore, we just found out that this hotel was the venue of the Ten master clans conference. The Ten master clans, as most of you probably know, are the most important families in the magic community. Their involvement in this matter is still unknown, but it appears that they are currently being interrogated by the police."

No Kimiko took a short moment to breathe. She was a young reporter who just started working for a TV broadcaster a few months ago. Kimiko held great knowledge about magic, so her employer often send her to report on magic related news.

Kimiko was in the region when the attack happened. One of her colleagues was supposed to make this report, but this changed once bystanders spotted the heads of the Ten Master Clans. Kimiko was immediately called here for work.

Kimiko was suprised by this and she told her employer that she could not say anything her colleague could not have reported. There were simply to many unknowns to speak about. Her employer, however, insisted that she made this anchor. He said that their viewers already associated her with magic-related news, so she would emanate a professional aura.

"Just a few minutes ago, another explosion happened nearby. It is suspected to be related to this terrorist attack, maybe caused by an unexploded bomb."

Kimiko trembled a bit when she recalled the event. She had just arrived and prepared for the broadcast when the heard the sound of an explosion. She immediately looked towards the source, which was unexpectedly not in the hotel but a few hundred meters aside. Looking around, she felt a short shiver. Something was off, but she could not find out what it was. This feeling did last less than a minute, so she discarded it.

"There are reports of several casualties and even more injuries. Apparently all of them are non-magicians who... Hold on a second, my coworker just told me that this is not true. It seems like a high-ranking magician died while protecting a few civilians."

The last part was not entirely true. Maya did not die protecting some civilians but due to antinite coupled with a surprise attack. But the remaining heads used this chance to spin the story for their advantage, hoping that they could counter the anti-magician movement with a bit of propaganda. Still, Kimiko did not know this.

"Lets see if we can find someone involved with the incident. Hey there!" Kimiko called out to a policemen. He hesitated for a bit before calling one of his colleagues. He pointed towards Kimiko and the other policemen nodded before walking towards her. It seemed like this person was one of the officers in charge of handling the media.

"Hi, my name is No Kimiko. I know you are probably busy, but could you spare a bit of your time for an interview?" Kimiko asked while trying to be as cute as possible. Her teacher always emphasized this. Well, she did not directly emphasize being cute when asking for an interview, but she told her that it was important to get the attention of the person she wants to interview and being cute is one of the possibilities.

"Of course. Also, do not worry about the time, it is my job to speak to the media. But please keep in mind that as of right now there are more questions than answers and many answers are pure speculations."

For the next few minutes, Kimiko asked a few basic questions about what happened, who the culprits are and so on. She now arrived at the question she burned to ask for.

"So Mr officer, I was told that there is a magician under the causalities, is this true?" Kimiko asked.

"Yes. We were as surprised as you were. Normally explosions would not be a really threat to magicians so we expected them to be fine. It appears that a high ranking magician attempted to help a few kids caught in the disaster. She was surprised by another attack but was saved by another high ranking magician. This magician was then attacked using antinite and another surprise attack, which killed her."

"Antinite? Is this not a military resource restricted to the public? How did the terrorists get these?" Kimiko asked dumbfounded.

"We do not know, but it appears that this feat was not done by ordinary terrorists. We believe that they might have aimed for the magicians."

"You said that it was a 'high-ranking magician'. What does this mean? Was it one of the family heads?"

Hearing this question, the officer hesitated. Normally officers would not be allowed to disclose the identities of the dead to the public. But the person in question was of public interest and rumors already started to spread. And who would mind a bit of fame? His superior already gave him the permission to reveal any informations as he saw fit, as long as this would not favor any anti-magic sentiments. It seemed like there was quite a bit of political pressure from above, probably politicians trying to gain a favor from the influential clans. Since this information may benefit the magicians, he decided to tell her.

"I am saddened to inform you that Yotsuba Maya died during the terrorist attack. As is said before, she died while saving someone."

Kimiko was shocked. Yotsuba Maya, one of the mightiest magicians of this age, was killed? His explanations made sense, anything less than a surprise attack using antinite would be unable to kill any of the stronger heads. But still, she could not believe this bit of information.

Kimiko turned back to the camera. She hesitated a bit before attempting to speak a few words towards the camera, but was interrupted by a sudden hectic within the emergency staff. Turning back to the officer who was currently on his radio, she asked what had happened.

The officer turned towards her. He was wearing a shocked expression before saying:

"It appears that the corpse of Yotsuba Maya went missing."

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**Authors note:** There you have it. Maya died. I know many of you will be saddened about her death, but this story requires it. She is an awesome character, but there are already quite a number of fanfics expanding on her.

As for the way she died, I have to admit that this is full of holes. Maya would probably not sacrifice herself, with the exception of saving a few Yotsuba members. But she had to die this way. I require the other heads to be alive for this story. If only Maya had died in combat, the Yotsuba may appear weak in the eyes of the public. Thus, by making her a sacrifice, we can let her die without making her appear weak.

Of course, Tatsuya could have easily saved her using her power, but this is where the unlikely interruption comes into play. Like i said, Maya had to die.

Regarding the last part: No Kimiko is an original character. I am still not sure if I will really use her in the story of if she will only play a support role. I hope that the name was not yet used, but there was no entry for it in the wiki. The interview itself was largely unnecessary. I wanted to make a scene where it was discovered that the corpse went missing, but most ideas felt to unnatural. So I went for this interview instead.

As for the next few chapters, there will be the reactions towards this incident and a cleanup. There is also a Dragon with untouchable scales waking up from his slumber and leaving his cave.

And of course, the big question: Is Miyuki ready?

Thanks for reading. Please leave a review.

8


	3. Ch02 - The dragon awakens

**The hidden Head - Chapter 2 - The dragon awakens**

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**February 5th, late evening/Magic association, Kanto branch/Kouichi POV**

Nine magicians sat around a round table. Just a glimpse was enough to see the depressed atmosphere. These magicians were the heads of the Ten Master Clans, with the exception of Maya, who died just a few hours ago.

Each of them was still shocked. While not all of them liked Maya, no one had expected her to die this way. None of them had expected the terrorist attack. They joked about it, but no one had expected the terrorist to actually target the conference. After all, the venue of the conference was top secret and only known to the members.

At first, Saegusa Kouichi suspected one of them to be a traitor. But he quickly realized that everyone of them was just as shocked as he was. His long experience with politicians and other members of high standing made him skilled in assessing the facial expressions of his peers. Skilled enough to understand that the crestfallen look on their faces were not faked.

The silence continued.

Everyone knew that someone had to break the ice, but no one knew what to say.

They were angry. Angry about the terrorist attack.

They were sad. Saddened by Maya's death.

And they were furious. Furious about themselves.

"So, Maya's corpse disappeared?" someone said.

This was the reason they were furious. They could not even protect her corpse.

"You should not worry this much about her disappearance. The equipment used to treat Yotsuba-dono also disappeared. It is likely that the Yotsuba recovered her to prevent a DNA leak."

Unlike the rest of the heads, Kouichi was not furious about their failure to protect the corpse. He was furious about being unable to protect Maya. Again.

He knew that the other heads must have already known this. There are not many magicians capable of stealing a corpse directly in front of them. Still, they could not be sure unless the Yotsuba contacted them. And this uncertainty filled them with agony.

"Do we know who their next head is?" asked Atsuko. She was saved by Maya. Not only this, but she always saw Maya as some sort of idol. This idol guided her a long time before she finally became the head of the Mutsuzuka. She wanted to help and guide Maya's successor. This was something she had to do. Some form of redemption, one could say.

"No. Yotsuba Maya was the only known remaining member of the Yotsuba. The previous heads died long ago. The same is true for her twin sister. The Yotsuba released a report claiming her death in a hospital a few years ago. For all we know, Maya could have been the last Yotsuba with the rest being mercenaries."

Hearing this, Kouichi was a bit amused. The information control of the Yotsuba was top-notch as always. Kouichi knew that Miya was still alive when the Yotsuba reported her death, but died a few years later.

While the official report stated that Miya died childless, Kouichi's sources said something different. He suspected the Shiba siblings to be her children, but he had no evidence. And even if they were Yotsuba, this does not mean that one of them would be the next head. They were still too young. While there was no age restriction for being a head of a family, even the Yotsuba would not be so unethical and put a kid in charge of such a dark organization like the Yotsuba.

Or would they? Juumonji Katsuto was currently the youngest head, currently attending a university. It was said that he was already the de facto head a few years ago. But their family business was a construction company, not a family full of assassins and spies in charge of the japanese counter-terrorism unit.

If Kouichi knew about the low ethic standards of the Yotsuba towards their children and guardians, he would not waste a second before admitting that this was a very real possibility.

"So, do we need to hold another election to fill this vacancy?" someone asked.

"No. The status of being a member of the Ten Master Clans is not bound to a specific head. The Yotsuba are still part of the Ten Master Clans. We have to treat the current situation as an absence of their head."

"More important than the matter of who is their next head is the question of what they are going to do now. Last time I checked, the Yotsuba were inclined towards large-scale killing sprees when someone attacked on of their members." As Kouichi said this, he could see the expression of everyone in this room darken even more.

"We need to speak with them as soon as possible. Can we send them a message?"

Kouichi considered revealing his suspicion about the Shiba right now but decided against it. He would need to speak with them alone, without the knowledge of the remaining clans. It was unlikely that the Shiba would react well if suddenly all of the heads appeared at their door.

What was worse was the case of Kouichi being wrong or the Shiba managing to convince the other heads that they were unrelated. Kouichi's image was already battered yesterday by Maya, he could not allow any mistakes on his part right now.

Kudou Retsu probably knew a bit more about the Yotsuba, but the Kudou left the TMC yesterday. Maybe Kouichi would try to contact him regarding this matter.

"We do not know the location of their residence, so all we could do is to send a message to their inbox and hope that they reply."

"That will have to do. Next up is the matter of the terrorist attack itself." Mai said, steering the direction of the conversation forwards.

Hearing this, the dark expression of the faces were replaced with angry ones.

* * *

**At the same time/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV**

Miyuki and Tatsuya were currently in the room that was prepared for them. The servants had followed Mayas last orders and only prepared one room for both of them. Tatsuya decided against asking for a second room, thinking that Miyuki could need someone to comfort her.

Truth to be told, Miyuki was not really feeling any grief. While she was saddened about Maya's death, she did still feel a bit of fear when thinking about Maya. They were never close, but Miyuki respected Maya. Maya had also won quite a few points when she engaged Miyuki with Tatsuya.

This was where Miyuki's real trouble lied. Would the clan respect Maya's decision or would they cancel this engagement.

It was unlikely that they would renounce Miyuki's position as the heir. They knew that Miyuki was the best choice for the position and would most likely be a puppet with Tatsuya making the decisions. And, while most of them would not admit it, they knew that Tatsuya was a perfect fit for making these decisions.

If it was not for Tatsuya being a _Born specialized_ Magician, he would probably have become the head. Which sane person would dare to oppose him? Tatsuya could kill them all while being extremely hard to kill.

His cold heart and high intelligence along with his knowledge in military affairs and businesses were ideal for his position. While he lacked experience in politeness and politics, Miyuki did not.

"We should go. The meeting will start soon."

"Yes, Onii-sama."

After Maya's death, the Yotsuba immediately called for an emergency meeting. There was a special codeword prepared for the death of the head. This day, it spread like wildfire among the Yotsuba members and guardians. Along with it, a second codeword was relayed. This second word indicated that a Yotsuba member was killed by someone. The meaning of these two codewords together was quite clear: Maya, the head of the Yotsuba, was killed.

Looking around, Miyuki could see the uneasiness of the guardians along the way. The security was increased compared to normal. The guardians were reinforced with trainees. Instead of wearing their weapons hidden, they were wearing high-powered anti magician rifles.

Turning around a corner, Miyuki suppressed a small grin. The sight of a 12 year old guardian trainee wearing a rifle three quarters her size amused Miyuki.

Still, Miyuki had noticed the change of behavior towards her. It was well known among the Yotsuba family and guardians that Miyuki was the next heir. In their eyes, Miyuki was already the new head.

They arrived in a large hall. It was the same room used for the New Years Gathering. Tatsuya and Miyuki stopped at the table used by the main family. Since Tatsuya was considered to be Maya's son and Miyuki was the heir and fiancee of Tatsuya, they were both considered to be part of the main family.

Taking a look around, Miyuki noticed that most of the branch families had already arrived. A few members hailing from the far north had yet to arrive, but Tatsuya had assured Miyuki that the protocol ensured that all members could arrive within 6 hours in case of an emergency.

"Excuse me, would the madam like a drink?" A familiar voice asked beside her.

It was Minami, wearing maid clothes. Being called _madam_ Miyuki wanted to retort. But she understood that Minami had to upheld a strict codex within the main residence.

"Ah, yes please." Minami knew what Miyuki's favorite drink was, so she did not have to ask for specifics. Turning towards Tatsuya, she heard another _yes_. For Tatsuya, it was pitch black coffee.

After Minami left, Miyuki spoke to Tatsuya.

"Minami was surprisingly lively. I don't think she actually has to do this stuff though."

"That is probably the reason. If you become the new head, Minami will no longer be performing such trivial tasks. It is likely that she wants to enjoy her normal duties one last time."

Miyuki nodded. The last members had just arrived and the meeting was about to begin. Miyuki stood up and went to the front. Being part of the main family, it was her duty to welcome the rest.

* * *

**15 minutes later/Yotsuba main residence**

After Miyuki gave her greeting, the situation was reiterated for everyone present. This task fell to Mitsugu, who was in charge of the Yotsuba's intelligence department.

The expression of everyone present was very grim. While they had already have been informed about Maya's death, hearing the confirmation was staggering.

A deep silence hang in the air. Not even the servants dared to move.

After a minute, a voice sounded loudly.

"This was a direct attack on both japan and on our family! This must be answered!"

"It seems like the world dared to forget why we are called 'the untouchables!' Lets show them hell!" this call was echoed by another one.

"Which idiot dared to not only provoke us, but actually harmed and killed on of our members? We must immediately punish them!"

"Last time we were many, but weak. This time, we are few, but incomparable strong. We are the Yotsuba!"

This last line was spoken by Miyuki herself. She knew that it was expected of her to call for revenge and inspire the rest of them. Her call was unexpectedly effective, because the last part was immediately echoed by the crowd.

"We are the Yotsuba!"

"Yotsuba!"

"YOTSUBA! YOTSUBA! YOTSUBA!" the once coherent sentence was quickly transformed into a chant calling for war. Over the course of the next few months, it would be joined by several others and resound every evening.

After the crowd calmed down, one of the branch heads spoke up.

"It seems like a consensus has been reached. All of our hearts call for war and revenge."

"Yes, this matter seems pretty clear now. But another question remains: Who will follow Maya as the next head."

"This seems also pretty clear. Maya named Miyuki the heir and her successor. I do not see any reasons to not let her become our new head."

"But she still attends school! I do not believe that she is ready yet."

"The new head of the Juumonji was also essential in charge while he was in school. And compared to our training, theirs is a walk in the park. If that guy was ready for it, then Miyuki is also ready. And lets not forget her fiance."

Hearing this last part, a shiver ran trough Mitsugu. He still did believe that Tatsuya should be locked away. But he would never go against Maya's orders. Mitsugu knew that this was probably the best. But he could not help but make one last remark.

"Still, the critic of Miyuki still attending school is valid. While both of them are probably are probably ready to skip a few grades and attend university, we must consider how the other clans view us."

"Since when do we care what these weak clans think about us?" The Yotsuba were, like most of the other master clans, a bit arrogant. They were not like the _Saegusa_, who make the whole world revolve around them. No, the Yotsuba's arrogance was more in the way of "those other clans have no right to be arrogant. They are weak and nothing special compared to us". Interestingly, the Yotsuba only held this thought against the other magic clans and families. They were not arrogant towards normal humans or normal magicians.

"Do we actually need to have a publicly known head? Maya rarely left the village and still got the job done. So why not keep Myuki a secret until her graduation?" This was an interesting suggestion.

"What about the matters which require attendance?"

"We could simply send a representative. Also, we do not need to keep Miyuki a secret from everyone. The other Master Clans know of our strength and the politicians fear us regardless of our head. And if this is not the case, then all we have to do is reminding them."

Mitsugu noticed that most Yotsuba seemed in favor of this plan. Resigning himself, he said:

"We should at least try to keep it a secret as long as possible."

"Ho ho ho." A deep and amused laugh was heard. Mitsugu recognized it. It belonged to one of his cousins. Without a doubt, his laugh was because this guy loved to troll the other families. Playing hide and seek between clan heads? Perfect. He continued:

"Well, it seems like it is decided. Shiba Miyuki, I am asking you: Do you accept this position in this trying times?"

Miyuki hesitated. Was she really ready for it? When she was young, she had always aimed for this moment. But it was wrong. Her life back then was built on lies. Now she knew about her Onii-sama. She no longer lived to become the clan head, but lived for her brother. She lived to please him. But accepting this position would effectively put him in charge. While her family members would never accept her brother to become the head, this would at least give him his power and recognition.

She turned towards Tatsuya.

Tatsuya looked back at her and gave a small nod.

Miyuki smiled and spoke out loudly.

"Yes. I accept this position and will do my utmost to lead this clan. While I am still young, I know that I have the strongest family in the world. I hope that you will guide me and help me into becoming a good head."

A thunderous applause erupted.

* * *

**Half a hour later/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV**

After half a hour of congratulations, greetings, formalities and traditions, Miyuki was the new head of the Yotsuba.

Hayama was called to the front. While he was nearby, he did not enter the room. No one would have opposed him if he did enter, but Hayama still did not. From his perspective, it was unbecoming of a butler to attend this event.

But Miyuki could tell that this was only half the reason of his absence. His eyes were still red and his body was shaking. Hayama was the person closest to Maya. And Hayama watched over Maya since she was still a kid. He started working for the Yotsuba before Maya was even born. He played with her, studied with her and watched her grow up. Without a doubt, Hayama saw Maya as if she was his own daughter. He probably spent the last few hours crying in grief.

Miyuki could not help but feel sympathy.

She spoke to him:

"Hayama, you have served this family since head Genzou. Your contributions towards the Yotsuba are unrivaled among the servants. You assisted Genzou and Eisaku and guided Maya. Everyone here knows how close you and Maya were. You were one of the few people Maya trusted to the fullest. We know that you have watched her her whole life. Your grief is incomparable to the one I am feeling. Still, I have to ask you: Will you, Hayama Tadanori, guide me like you guided Maya?"

Miyuki could see a few tears dropping from Hayama's eyes. He was currently bowing respectfully before Miyuki, but the trembling she saw earlier was still present.

Hayama took a short breath before replying.

"Yes, my lady. I will do everything in my abilities to help you."

"Thank you. I will be in your care. Now go and rest for a bit. You may have been trained to serve even under physical exhaustion, but right now you heart is exhausted. Please feel free to join us anytime you want."

"Of course, my lady." Having replied, Hayama immediately left the room.

"Now then, we still have to prepare for a war." Myuki said as she turned back towards the rest of the family. She immediately received several enthusiastic replies.

"Mitsugu, we have to find the culprit. I assume that you can do this?" She gave her orders to the Kuroba family.

"Of course, Toushu-sama."

Over the course of the next hour, tasks were delegated and plans were made.

It was already late when Miyuki and Tatsuya returned to their room. They did not dare to use the room for the head of the family. Not yet, at least.

* * *

**Authors note:**  
The dragon has awakened. And he is thirsty. Thirsty for blood.

Now that Maya is dead, Miyuki has become the new head. And with that, this fanfic has reached a point no Mahouka fanfic I know of had reached.

Miyuki seems to be doing quite well so far, but leading a war may be easier than managing the daily life of the family. And is Miyuki ready to lead the Yotsuba while studying for school exams? You will soon find out. Or not. I am not yet sure how much of this fanfic I am going to write.

This fanfic can be splitted into three parts:

The first part is the prologue, which covers Maya's death, Miyuki becoming the head and the revenge of the Yotsuba.

The second part will be focused on Tatsuya's and Miyuki's school life and the management of the Yotsuba family.

The problem is the third part. If this should not end up as an open-ended or endless fanfic, it needs an ending. An an ending needs a plot aiming for an end. And I am not yet sure which plot to follow.

I plan on finishing part one before I upload. So at worst you will end up reading a fanfic about the Yotsuba taking revenge. It is not that bad, right? If I fail somewhere in the second part it will be an open-ended story. The third part is annoying.

I admit that I had to fight with a few tears when writing Hayama's part. I had not yet realized how isolated Maya and Hayama were.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

8


	4. Ch03 - Preparations

**The hidden Head - Chapter 3 - Preparations**

* * *

**February 6th/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV**

The sun stood already high in the sky when Miyuki opened her eyes.

Seeing the ceiling of the main house above her, her consciousness immediately returned from sleep.

Looking around, her memories of the last day came back to her.

Maya was dead. And Miyuki became the new head. It still felt surreal.

Miyuki turned her gaze on the alarm clock. A bitter realization hit her. She still had to call the school and inform them about her absence.

"Don't worry. The school is closed for today due to the terrorist strike." As if he was reading her thoughts, Tatsuya answered her. He was currently sitting on a chair in the corner of the room reading a book.

Miyuki let out a short sigh of relief. The magic high schools would normally not close even if a terrorist attack happened. But Maya's death must have caused a major shock in the magic community. Maybe the magic association believed it was the best for the schools to be closed today. Or it was the work of the other heads. Closing the schools due to the death of one of them would undoubtedly fortify the perceived importance of the clan heads.

Still, this should not be something Miyuki should have to take care of. It would be quite ironic if the first thing the new head of the powerful and feared Yotsuba had to do would be finding an excuse to skip school.

She thought back to the last evening.

After they had delegated the tasks for the war preparation, they discussed various other topics like Maya's funeral. They had decided to make a grant funeral within the Yotsuba village, but decided against inviting outsiders.

They knew that a public funeral would not fit Maya's character. She could not care less about the other heads. The only exception were Saegusa Kouichi and Musuzuka Atsuko. If Maya were in charge of her own funeral, she would have tried to find a way to troll the Saegusa one last time. It would probably be something along the lines of only serving dishes that Kouichi was known to hate. Maya would only invite Atsuko due to their friendliness with each other, but it would be just as convenient for her if Atsuko did not come. Thus, this would be a Yotsuba internal funeral.

The funeral itself was arranged for the next day. The servants still needed time to prepare everything.

Miyuki started to change into the clothes she would normally wear inside the Yotsuba mansion. It was a black kimono with a golden four leaf clover and various other ornaments.

Tatsuya had already left the room before Miyuki started to undress. While she would not mind if Tatsuya saw her naked, she would still be a bit embarrassed. From Tatsuya's perspective, it was simple etiquette not to watch a women change.

When Miyuki left her room, she saw Hayama waiting for her. He gave her a respectful bow before he talked to her.

"Toushu-sama, please allow me to serve you breakfast. Tatsuya-sama is already waiting."

"Yes, please do so. One more thing: Please do not call me Toushu-sama. While I wont ask you to call me Miyuki, 'My Lady' or something along these lines would be preferred." Miyuki knew that it would go against a servants pride to call their Lord or Lady by their first name. Still, Miyuki could not stand being called 'Toushu-sama'. Unlike Maya, she did not gain entertainment from being revered. After all, her Onii-sama deserved such high esteem more than herself.

Miyuki knew that she was the top magician amongst the japanese in her generation. And she was amongst the top of all magicians. But this was only if you restrict the term "magic" to its current definition. If you included Tatsuya's magic, he was still above her. Maybe not in terms of magic power, but his healing power was on a level where Miyuki saw it as a miracle.

After a while, Miyuki reached a small room. She recognized it as the room where Maya used to eat her breakfast. She sat opposite of Tatsuya. After a short conversation between siblings, Hayama arrived along with a few other servants.

When Miyuki looked at his face she could see him fighting with his tears. There was no doubt that he was remembering the countless times he served Maya her breakfast. Just a few days ago, he still served Maya as if this would continue for the rest of his live. He never expected for Maya to die before him.

Miyuki wanted to help him, to support him in his grief. This old man was one of the few people who did not look down on Tatsuya. This alone had earned him respect from her.

But Miyuki knew that it would be the best for him if he could continue to pretend to be fine.

She knew that Hayama wanted to carry on Maya's legacy. He would not allow for Maya's plan to fail. He would see this trough till his last breath. Hayama would continue to be the first butler of the Yotsuba, the clan Maya once resided over.

Hayama turned the TV on and switched to a news channel. Maya always watched the news when she woke up and he heard the siblings did the same.

As expected, the news were centered around the terror attack yesterday and Maya's death. It seemed to be a pretty objective report, but Miyuki could discern the fine traces of propaganda spread by the other clans.

It seemed like the other heads successfully attempted to improve their public image. They emphasized Maya's death and made it appear like she was a grant hero who sacrificed herself for the sake of some children.

Miyuki started to laugh a bit. This was a risky move. Most magicians probably already expected the Yotsuba to go on a killing spree. The general public, however, did not know the details regarding the nightmare of 2062. They understood that they had to fear the Yotsuba, but they did not know the exact reason for this. The TMC essential bet on the public to be unable to connect the upcoming disaster with the clans. Presenting Maya as a hero would otherwise only backfire.

Still, the Yotsuba did not plan to announce their planned massacre to the public. They would find the perpetrator and get rid of them and their connections. The whole world would see the terror they were going to cause, but they would destroy any evidence linking to the Yotsuba.

It would be obvious for the people in power that the Yotsuba were the culprits, but the public would only be able to guess.

This was the true terror in antagonizing the Yotsuba. It was a message. _We are more powerful than any other organization. We could eliminate you without leaving any traces._ It was the same as the last time the Yotsuba did this.

Back in 2062, the Yotsuba annihilated the country of Dahan, who had abducted Maya and did unfathomable things to her. In the years since then only a few opponents dared to challenge the Yotsuba. But now, they had even killed their last head. This led to a problematic question:

_Will this still work? Does making them fear us work? And for how long? How long until we have to do this again?_

Miyuki sank into deep thoughts.

* * *

**A few hours later/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV**

Today was Miyuki's first day as the new head. For the past few hours Hayama introduced her and Tatsuya into their new work.

Other than Maya, Hayama was the only person who had the whole overview of the Yotsuba's business, research and other activities. The Yotsuba valued secrecy highly. Only the head and her trusted ones knew everything. If Hayama would have left the Yotsuba, no one knew what they should have done.

Tatsuya was a quick learner. He already memorized everything Hayama had told and shown them. He would be able to support Miyuki in her new role.

Currently, Hayama was showing them the access to the magic association. Using this terminal, the Yotsuba had access to TMC-related documents and appointments. They could also send to and receive messages from the association and the other families.

"And if you switch to the third tab, you can see the messages we have received via the association. The red number next to the tab shows the total number of unread messages."

Miyuki let out another sigh. The number of messages was quite large. She could easily guess the reason for this many messages.

She opened the newest message. It was a formal letter from one of the hundred families expressing their condolences.

Most of the other messages would probably be the same.

"We should probably write a response." Tatsuya reminded Miyuki. He did his best to help her, but he had not received any training regarding the required formalities and etiquette, so he could not write the response for her.

Miyuki nodded and started writing a response. She planned to send the same message to all of the messages, so she would have to write a relatively vague letter.

She hesitated when she arrived at the signature. What should she write? The Yotsuba had decided to hide her identity for the near future.

"My lady, since this letter was addressed to the Yotsuba clan, you can also sign as 'Yotsuba'."

Understanding her problem, Hayama made a suggestion. Miyuki thanked him and they continued their work.

* * *

**At the evening/Digital conference room**

The remaining nine heads were currently holding another meeting.

They just finished discussing their progress regarding the incident yesterday. The result was depressing. While they could manipulate the media surprisingly well, they still had no idea who the culprit was.

They needed the skills of the Yotsuba, but the Yotsuba were still absent from the meeting. Which brought them to the current topic.

"I assume you have received and read the response of the Yotsuba regarding our inquiry?" asked Saegusa Kouichi. Yesterday they had sent a joint message to the Yotsuba. Unlike their individual messages offering their condolences, they asked the Yotsuba who their next head was and what they were planning to do.

"Of course. If you could call that message a 'response'." Ichijou replied. The response the Yotsuba had sent was rather disappointing. It essential only said _'we are busy'_ in a more polite way. Their questions were left unanswered.

"This is not good. I understand that their new head must be quite busy right now, but this matter can not be delayed for too long. None of these matters can." This reply came from Yatsushiro Raizou.

This was true. They needed the Yotsuba for the investigations. They may be able find the culprit without them, but it would take them too long. They also needed the head of the Yotsuba to be present in order to show a united stance to the media.

And most importantly, they needed the Yotsuba to be present to prevent them from any rushed actions. The idea of a vengeful Yotsuba clan they knew nothing about was terrifying. For all they knew the Yotsuba could have nuclear weapons in their possession. It would fit into their profile.

Kouichi could not help but think about Shiba Tatsuya. His sources indicated that he was the unregistered strategic-class magician. If that guy was really a Yotsuba, this situation could be extremely dangerous.

Right now, the only thing they could do was to wait and continue their work without the Yotsuba.

* * *

**At the same time/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV**

After an exhausting day, Miyuki and Tatsuya went to eat their supper. It was served like the breakfast and Hayama was waiting beside them, ready to serve them anytime.

"You did very well today, my lady. You too, Tatsuya-sama." Hayama called Tatsuya _Tatsuya-sama_. Maybe this was due to Maya claiming him her son, but Miyuki did not know.

"Thanks for the support, Hayama-san." Miyuki took a short sip from her tea. "By the way, tomorrow our classes at first hight would continue. Given the current situation, I do not think we can attend anytime soon. What is your suggestion, Hayama-san?"

"Ah yes, my lady, I was waiting for you to ask. We have already prepared a plan. Here is the mission file." Hayama handed Miyuki a tablet PC.

Miyuki read trough the file before handing it to Tatsuya.

"Is this not a bit excessive?" Miyuki asked warily.

Unexpectedly, the reply came from Tatsuya and not Hayama.

"This will work well. We can retrieve our family members without risking their cover to blow. A large number of innocent bystanders will be hit, but no one will be seriously injured. Our family members will have a good alibi." Tatsuya spoke of family members, but in reality this was only for the youngest generation. Their older relatives either worked for the Yotsuba, did not work at all or could take a few days off. Skipping school was more complicated than skipping work.

Hearing her brothers opinion, Miyuki nodded enthusiastically and gave the order with a smile. She knew that this order would bring a huge amount of suffering for some innocent people, but Miya trained Miyuki to make sure she would give such an order without any sort of hesitation.

* * *

**The next morning/a TV studio/Kimiko POV**

"We are interrupting the current program for a special news segment. In another unexpected wave of terror, unknowns have launched a biological attack using an old disease. Their primary target appears to be magicians, especially young magicians on their way to the magic high schools. While the details remain unknown, it is believed to be related to the terror attack in Hakone a few days ago. Both attacks targeted magicians."

Kimiko took a short breath. Her teacher told her to give the viewers a short break to catch up.

"The victims immediately started to vomit heavily, with a few of them collapsing. The surprise was that the virus appears to be relatively harmless. The doctors could quickly identify it as a known disease. They ensured us that there is no risk to the lives of the children, but they will probably continue vomiting regularly for the next few weeks. We do not know why the terrorists choose to use a non-lethal virus, but we currently assume it to be a mix up on their side."

Kimiko bowed towards the camera and said "Thank you for watching. We will continue to provide you with updates, so please tune in regularly."

Unknown to Kimiko, everyone of the Yotsuba children were amongst the victims of this strike. At least officially. In reality, they were never near the attack. But it was child's play for the Yotsuba to make it look like they were just another victim. Amongst the three hundred real victims they were indistinguishable.

* * *

**Later that day/Yotsuba main residence/Minami POV**

Minami was not sure how to proceed.

Hayama had told her to help Miyuki prepare for the day and inform her about her schedule. This was part of Minami's new training.

Ever since Miyuki became the new head, Minami's position among the servants has drastically improved. Her previous position, being one of the two guardians of Miyuki, was also definitely not bad. Because Maya could not bear any children, the Shiba branch had become the de-facto main family. And with Miya's death, Miyuki became the de-facto head of the Shiba branch. Tatsurou was but a marionette of the Yotsuba and considered non-existent regarding family matters. This meant that the position of being Miyuki's guardian was already second only to being one of Maya's guardian or being one of the higher ranked butlers.

Still, her current position was even higher. Not only did Miyuki become the new head, Tatsuya also was no longer considered a guardian. This meant that Minami was now Miyuki's only guardian. Minami did not expect this to stay this way for an extended period of time, but she would still be the guardian who had served Miyuki the longest. This was important because most guardians also doubled as servants. The other guardians and servants would ask her, their senior, for guidance.

Minami was extremely happy. Even though she knew that this was probably caused by the indoctrination done by the Yotsuba, she did not dislike it. Indoctrination was considered normal or even trivial among the Yotsuba. Not only the servants and guardians are trained to be loyal beyond doubt to the Yotsuba, even some family members were indoctrinated. It was said that the Kuroba taught their children to be loyal to the head in such an extensive way that it could be considered "brainwashing".

But Minami was still trapped inside her current dilemma. She looked back to Miyuki.

Unexpectedly, Miyuki was still asleep. Minami knew that yesterday had been tiring for Miyuki. And today was an important day. Miyuki would require all rest the could get.

But Hayama, who was still ranked above Minami, had ordered her to wake Miyuki.

Should she do as she was told and wake Miyuki or let her continue to sleep?

Minami did not know. She had hoped to get help from Tatsuya, but he had already left for his training.

She sighted. There was not much she could do to allow Miyuki to rest. Hayama was already waiting for them. She had to wake Miyuki.

Minami was preparing to wake Miyuki before she hesitated. How would she wake her?

She had waked Miyuki before, but now Miyuki was the head of the Yotsuba.

Minami still remembered the terror she felt whenever she saw Maya. The head of the Yotsuba was an extremely frightening existence, both for the Yotsuba members and the general public. Especially for guardians. The stories of Maya were widespread amongst them. The head of the Yotsuba could order their death and no one would ever find out. Their existence would be completely erased. While Maya had never actually killed a guardian, she had always mad it quite clear that she could do it. There were quite a few stories about guardians wetting themselves after being called into Maya's office. Most of the times it was only a joke by Maya, but the guardians felt true fear.

Could Minami truly wake such an existence? What if Miyuki would be mad? Minami shivered.

In the end, both of the arrived half an hour too late for breakfast.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

This was a rather slow chapter. I apologize if some of the scenes felt unrealistic.

The pairing is MiyukiXHayama by the way.

Jokes aside, I actually had to discard a few scenes because they felt like they were going into this direction. For example, I wanted to make a scene where Hayama sat on a veranda starting into the sunset while mourning Maya. Miyuki would arrive at the scene to console him. It was supposed to help making Hayama more loyal towards Miyuki, but it just felt like a cliche anime scene.

7


	5. Ch04 - The nightmare begins

**The hidden Head - Chapter 4 - The nightmare begins...**

* * *

**The same day/Top secret USNA bunker/Balance POV**

Colonel Virginia Balance took a deep breath while listening to the report.

She was currently sitting in a crisis meeting, the third of its kind happening in these last few days.

Looking around in the conference room, she could see the tired expressions on the faces around her.

These meetings were exhausting. Not because they had too much to organize and not enough time to do it, but instead the opposite. They had nearly nothing to do, yet most of them understood that they were in a crisis. This made it feel like they were watching a storm approaching and could do nothing about it.

As anyone with enough knowledge about the current military and political affairs could have guessed, these meetings were about the Yotsuba.

The death of their head had stirred up the international magic community. The _"Demon Queen of the Far East"_ was known as one of the most powerful magicians in the world and feared by many. For normal magicians, this was the end of their thoughts.

But those magicians and non-magicians in high positions were more worried about the situation. They did not care about the deceased, but about the living. No one could have achieved a high position without having at least heard the name _"Yotsuba"_ and associated it with the word _"fear"_. While most of them did not personally fear the Yotsuba, they still knew that they should do.

This was the reason for the first meeting. The ministry of defense had called for a meeting. They wanted to be assured that the USNA was not the culprit of the attack and wanted to know what they should expect from the Yotsuba.

They spent the rest of the day reading old reports about the fall of Dahan.

Balance could not help but feel amused as she watched the faces of the younger members pale. Seems like they had not taken the Yotsuba seriously.

The second meeting was different. Just Yesterday, they had suddenly lost contact to all USNA agents in japan, with the exception of embassy personal. It was obvious that the Yotsuba had known about them beforehand and gotten rid of them in the course of a single night. An impressive feat, which the normal japanese counterintelligence was not capable of.

Balance could not help but think about the little girl she saw during the parasite incident. It was said that the Yotsuba were specialized in mind magic. Could that girl have read her mind for the identity of their agents. She quickly discarded the thought. Most of them were already swapped for other agents. They must have gotten this intelligence rather recently, maybe just the day before.

The third meeting made it worse. The USNA had received reports from their spies in other nations. According to these reports, the agents of those nations in japan had also disappeared in the same night.

Were the Yotsuba actually capable of such a feat? Finding and killing any foreign spies within a single night?

If so, why did they not do this earlier? Did they simply not care? Or had the japanese government not paid them enough to do so?

She led out a sigh.

* * *

**Same day/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV**

In the Yotsuba residence, Miyuki was currently drinking a tea while Tatsuya was sitting beside her drinking a coffee.

They had already finished their new training for the day. While they were aware that they should work as hard as they could in order to take over Maya's duties, they had more important matters for the rest of the day.

Today was Maya's funeral.

Even though the organization of the funeral was done by a branch family out of consideration of Miyuki's tight schedule, she was still expected to prepare a speech and attend the funeral.

The funeral would probably only end in the early morning hours of the next day, so the siblings did their best to enjoy this short break.

Miyuki had already been dressed in her Kimono. It was custom tailored and featured a golden four leave clover, the unofficial symbol of the Yotsuba. _Ironic_, Miyuki thought. The family was not exactly blessed with good luck.

Tatsuya had yet to change, but Miyuki knew that Tatsuya was trained to quickly change his attire. He used to be a guardian, and a guardian must not delay his or her primary, especially when they're attending public events. More importantly, a Guardian should be capable of stripping off any troublesome clothes during combat.

She looked back at the sheets on the table. They contained the speeches Miyuki would recite during the rest of the day. She was not looking forward to this, even though she would not have any stage fright. Just like Tatsuya was trained in combat, Miyuki was trained for attending and hosting public events. Her mother was always adamant that Miyuki should become the next head.

_Mother_, Miyuki could not help but thought back at the deceased Miya, _I have fulfilled your wishes. So please, -_

Her thoughts were interrupted when Tatsuya suddenly rose up from his chair.

"Miyuki, the funeral will start soon. We have to finish our preparations." he said gently to Miyuki while moving towards the door.

"Yes, Onii-sama." Miyuki replied, but did not follow her brother. She and Tatsuya had different preparations to perform.

* * *

**A hour later/Plaza at the nameless Village/Miyuki POV**

When Miyuki arrived at the large plaza on the outskirts of the nameless village, a large group had already gathered.

Nearly all residents of the village were going to attend the funeral, the only notable exception being the security-related personal.

While the village was smaller than a town, it still had many residents. Aside from the Yotsuba, the servants also lived in this village. This included their families as well.

The village was designed to be mostly self sufficient, so it required a large amount of personal to run. The local school needed teachers, the 4th research institute required both skilled research personal and assistants. The 4th research institute also housed countless guardian candidates.

Along with the various other groups living in the village, the number of attendants was in the thousands. And the Yotsuba had not even invited any outsiders.

The funeral itself went rather smoothly. No one dared to make any disruptions. Everyone here had respected Maya. She may not have been liked by most of them, but she was still considered to have been a great leader.

Still, many tears were shed that day.

Miyuki sat exhausted in the large chair at the center of the large table. Tatsuya sat beside her. They were currently eating the food prepared for the funeral.

Or at least trying to do so.

They were constantly surrounded by a large group. Being Maya's closest relatives, many wanted to express their condolences to them. Being the new head, Miyuki also received many congratulations. Many of them wanted to leave a good impression on the new head. A futile task. No person would be capable of remembering every person the siblings met this day.

Miyuki casted a distressed gaze at her brother. Tatsuya noticed it and grabbed her hand. This was the best he could do right now. Situations like this one would soon become more frequent for Miyuki. It was the best for her if she could accustom herself to such situations. And right now, when no one around her wished her harm, would be the best time.

* * *

**Early in the next morning/The siblings bedchamber/Miyuki POV**

Miyuki jolted awake. Several strong knocks sounded from the door.

Tatsuya was already moving to the door. They had only slept for a few hours and he hoped Miyuki could have a fulfilling rest, but this was now very unlikely.

This room was located near the center of the main house. The only one who could knock on the door would be family members or servants. An none of them would wake them up unless it was very important.

Miyuki heard Tatsuya let out a sigh as he opened the door. Hayama was standing behind it, an aggravated look on his face.

"Tatsuya-sama, my lady, excuse me for the interruption this early. We have just received a message from the Kuroba. They have found the culprits."

Both of them were aware that they would not be able to sleep anytime soon.

* * *

**Two nights later/Top secret USNA bunker/Balance POV**

Balance hastily arrived in the situation center. She was suddenly woken up and called here. She saw several other Chiefs of Staff here, so she assumed that something very important must have happened.

"What is the situation?" A high ranking officer who had just arrived asked loudly.

"Strategic class magic was detected." The response came quickly. Balance had a very bad feeling.

"Against us?" someone asked.

"The situation is unclear. But it seems like the target was the Federative Republic of Brazil."

"Do we have a satellite image?" Balance asked.

"Negative. Our satellites are blind. This may be a result of the attack." Balance shivered. The last time this happened was during the event known as _Scorched Halloween_. But that event only blinded two satellites watching over that region. Brazil was way larger and multiple satellites were responsible for keeping Brazil under surveillance. What could have blinded them all?

She casted a nervous look at her colleagues. Some of them must be thinking the same as she was.

The strategic class magician responsible for _Scorched Halloween_ was suspected to be a Japanese. And they have spent the last few days discussing a certain organization which was known to take on whole nations alone.

Before she could spend more time thinking about possible perpetrators, one of the soldiers manning the communication terminals spoke loud.

"We got an update. It seems like Brazil was hit by several strategic class magics at once."

"How many?" Balance asked. Everyone knew that she was asking about the number of simultaneous SCMs, not the number of victims.

"Hold on, they are currently checking... OK, they are saying that Brazil got hit by... What, could you repeat this? This can't be!"

"What is it, 2nd lieutenant. Speak clearly." One of the generals present was visible annoyed at the soldier.

"Sorry, Sir. According to our intel, Brazil got hit by 36 simultaneous strategic class magics of varying strength."

_36? It cant be!_ Someone said. Yet no one accused the soldier of lying. They had seen how he had reacted early, apparently also unable to believe the message. It was also known that simultaneously casting multiple strategic class magics was not impossible. There is no really difference between strategic class magic and "normal" magic, other than the obvious difference in strength. They also knew that the New Soviet Union had a classified SCM capable of casting two strategic class spells at the same time.

"What else do we know?"

"The targets were Brazil's second and third largest cities as well as several large military bases. The magic used had a visual similarity to the magic used during Scorched Halloween."

They froze. According to their scientists, _Scorched Halloween_ was most likely caused by matter to energy conversion magic. Finding the SCM responsible for it was a high priority task for them due to two important reasons.

Firstly, there was no japanese soldier near the destroyed base. This meant that the magic must have a very long range. This was worrying because the magic may be capable of hitting the USNA mainland territories from outside their own range. And if the attack on Brazil was caused by the same magic, then the chances are very high that japan could actually attack the USNA from within japan. This was extremely problematic.

Secondly, the size of the attack roughly matched the size of the attacked base. This meant that the japanese SCM likely only used as much power as required to destroy the base. This, in turn, meant that the SCM could probably also launch an even larger attack.

And now it seems like this mission just became even more important.

* * *

**At the same time/Tsuchiura base/Kazama POV**

"Your Excellency, we just received -" Kazama shouted breathlessly as he arrived at Major Generak Saeki's office, but was interrupted by her before he could finish.

"Sit". This was all she said.

"Your Excellency, it seems like you have already heard about this?" Kazama could not help but ask looking at the stern expression Saeki had.

"Yes. We have received orders from above. We are not to interfere with the Yotsuba. They spoke to the government in advance. At least it seems so, because quite a few politicians and our higher ups are afraid of losing their heads." Saeki's voice was bitter. She already disliked the ten master clans, and now the Yotsuba had used strategic class magic without permission.

A year ago, Saeki also gave the order to deploy strategic class magic. She did it twice. But in both cases the targets were enemy soldiers, not their cities.

"What should we do?" Kazama asked.

"Right now? Nothing. It is quite obvious that the Yotsuba will not tolerate anyone standing in he way of their revenge. Our higher ups will not dare to do anything about this issue. Chances are, that should we attempt to do something on our own, we would be dishonorable discharged. They are scared shitless."

"And later?"

"We must increase our surveillance on the Special Lieutenant. And..." Kazama noticed the hesitation in Saeki's voice, "Maybe we should ask the rest of the master clans for help. The Special Lieutenant is too dangerous and too important to be kept by the Yotsuba. I had hoped that after Yotsuba-dono's death a more responsible person would take control of the Yotsuba, but apparently this was not the case."

Kazama nodded. "Speaking of which, do we know the identity of their new head?"

Saeki lead out a small sight. "No. It is nearly impossible to get any intel on the Yotsuba. They only let others know what they want them to know. You should ask the Special Lieutenant about it. I believe his sister would have good chances of becoming the next head, but she is still too young."

Kazama knew that this was an order.

* * *

**A few hours later/Digital conference room**

Even tough this was only a digital conference, one could still feel the grim mood emitted by the participants.

The heads of the other master clans had expected that the Yotsuba may take drastic actions, but they never expected the use of strategic class magic.

"Is it now safe to assume that japan's unofficial strategic class magician is a Yotsuba?" someone asked.

"Most likely. Although the Yotsuba would probably also be capable of simply finding the SCM and brainwash him to follow their orders. Or simply extort him." Kouichi said, but he was actually very sure that the SCM was a Yotsuba. He thought about Shiba Tatsuya. He already suspected him to be a child of Miya and had received intel suggesting that Shiba Tatsuya was responsible for _Scorched Halloween_. It would fit.

"The last part is unlikely. Assuming that the SCM is not already a Yotsuba, they would try to make him marry into their family. No one would willingly discard the genetic potential of such a strong magician." This argument was brought by Itsuwa Isami with a dry smile. The Itsuwa had the only official SCM in japan, but her weak body prevented her from bearing any children. This was especially problematic for the Itsuwa, because their membership in the TMC currently depended solely on Itsuwa Mio. If they were able to gain another SCM, their position would be secured for the foreseeable future.

After _Scorched Halloween_, most of the 28 clans started looking for the SCM on their own. As of now, none of them was successful. Otherwise they would attempt to arrange a marriage between one of their children and the SCM.

"Still, using a SCM to attack another nation, are the Yotsuba insane?" Ichijou questioned angrily.

"Its a psychological game." Kouichi replied. "A large part of the Yotsuba's security depended on them being feared. As long as no one dared to attack them, they would be safe. Now it seems like the fear towards them subsided too much. By going overkill and instilling as much fear as possible, they hope to remind any possible thread of the reason they are called the _*'Untouchables'_."

Hearing this, Ichijou was taken aback. He had not thought about it this way, but even he could see that this was not a long term solution.

"But why only the second and third largest cities and not their capital? Would that not be more effective? A nation has many cities, but only one capital?"

"The perpetrators are likely in the capital. The Yotsuba would simply not be satisfied if they would find a quick death in a SCM spell." Kouichi replied calmly. Like most people in this conference, he still remembered Dahan.

After a few minutes of silence passed, one of them spoke up.

"His Excellency Kudou had sent a message. He requests to speak with us."

Kudou Retsu should not know about this meeting, but his many contacts in the magic association had probably informed him. Or maybe the _Electron Sorceress_ wiretapped this whole conference.

"Then let us hear him." A few seconds later, Kudou Retsu joined the video conference.

"Greetings. I hope I am not interrupting anything important." Kudou said with a fake smile. "So he knew what happened in this conference, meaning it was the electron sorceress wiretapping us." Kouichi thought, but he did not dare to publicize his thoughts.

"No, of course not. May I ask for the reason of this unexpected call?" Futatsugi Mai responded politely.

"Ah yes, it is regarding the Yotsuba, I actually know about two other members of their family."

The implications of this statement were interesting.

First of, it proofed that Maya was indeed not the last Yotsuba. None of them really believed this, but it was still nice to have a validation.

Secondly, they now had a way of communicating the Yotsuba. Hopefully they could stop this Situation from escalating even further.

And for Kouichi, the interesting part laid in the details. _He knows about two of them. It is already extremely hard to find a single Yotsuba, but two? Or maybe he found both at the same time..._ He thought back to a certain pair of siblings. He should ask his daughters to invite them to a dinner and speak with them.

"So can we invite them to speak with us?" Juumonji Katsuto asked.

"Unlikely. The Yotsuba are trying their best to hide their members and branch families. Even if these two would want to speak with us, they likely would not be allowed to do so. Also, these two I know of are still children. I will speak to them, but it is unlikely that they will say anything interesting."

"Yes, please do so." Kouchi let out a sigh. _In the end, he did not really want to talk to us, but he only wanted to calm us._

* * *

**Authors Note:**

As you have probably already noticed, I like to incorporate canon-friendly changes from other fanfics. In this case, the village is inspired by the fanfic _All That Can Be Given_ by _Baryon Lancer_. I really like his fanfics and highly recommend reading them. They greatly fill in holes in the novel and make the Yotsuba even more awesome while keeping them (mostly) canon compatible.

Regarding the use of _Material Burst_ in this chapter: I believe that Tatsuya destroying 36 targets simultaneously using _Material Burst_ is within his canon abilities. It was said that Tatsuya can aim at 36 targets simultaneously using _Mist dispersion_, but only at 24 during active combat. Since _Material Burst_ is based on _Mist dispersion_, he should be capable of doing this feat.

Also, should I make this a harem fanfic? I am currently aiming towards MiyukiXTatsuya, but it feels like the other factions would attempt to secure Tatsuya for his genetics.

Or should I do a MiyukixTatsuya ending but make it a harem route for the time being? This could allow some interesting plot changes.

By the way, _SCM_ may refer to either the strategic class magician or the strategic class magic, depending on the context.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

8


	6. Ch05 - and continues

**The hidden Head - Chapter 5 - ... and continues**

* * *

**At the same time/On a boat near the Brazilian Coast/Miyuki POV**

The cold wind blew around Miyuki's head. A small shiver ran down her spine.

Whether this was due to the cold air or what she was about to do, she did not know.

She wished that Tatsuya could accompany her. But alas, he could not. At least for now.

Tatsuya was currently somewhere in japan. He would probably be sitting somewhere in a public cafè, wearing his sunglasses and drinking coffee.

While it may seem like an idyllic scene befitting of the live of a _normal_ Person, it was just a cover. The sunglasses were not normal sunglasses, but a modified version of a CAD developed by the 101 IMEB. It was a CAD Tatsuya and Sanada developed together. Just like the _third eye_, it was designed to help Tatsuya with ultra long range magic.

The reason Tatsuya was using this CAD in a public cafè was simple: The USNA and possible other countries had already suspected him to be the SCM. By showing his face in public, he would appear more unsuspicious.

The Cafè he sat in was indirectly owned by the Yotsuba. Today, the waitresses were replaced with undercover guardians. The psion sensors around the cafè were replaced with fake ones. This made it seem like Tatsuya had not cast a single spell during his visit to this cafè.

Miyuki understood that it was important that Tatsuya had to appear in public when he used is SCM.

She still wished for him to be by her side.

As the new head of the Yotsuba, Miyuki was expected to lead the attack on Brazil. She was expected to personally execute the culprit.

The clan members knew that Miyuki's combat training was way below average for a Yotsuba member. She was simply not trained to fight at the front line. She would only have to participate in the first few attacks. Afterwards she would continue her training as the new head. The branch heads saw this as more important than her joining the attack force. Her whole participation was merely a symbolic act.

The boat had just arrived on the coast.

She and the other Yotsuba's on the ship quickly left and entered the nearby jungle.

They would meet up with their comrades and start their attack on _Brasília_, the brazilian capital.

Miyuki had to think back at Yokohama. She killed several attackers during the invasion. She had felt horrible afterwards.

Could she really lead this attack? Was she ready for this?

_Onii-sama..._ She thought back to her beloved brother and fiance.

* * *

**A few hours later/Deep inside the brazilian government bunker/Miyuki POV**

Miyuki sat at a nearby chair. She needed to catch to breath before she could continue.

Miyuki had not received excessive physical training. While her magic excelled in mass-suppressing their enemies, she still had trouble to catch up with her clansmen.

_AHHHHHH!_ another cry echoed trough the bunker. It seems like her comrades were already "cleaning" another room of soldiers.

Miyuki listened apathetically. She had already heard so many screams during this night. It would take some time until she would be able to sleep normally again.

She stood up. Her blood soaked clothes adhered to her body. Miyuki withstood her desire to cast a cleaning spell. The "VIP" still had to see the blood of his people.

Shaking her head, she followed her comrades, heading deeper into the base.

Soon she arrived at a large blast door. Her clansman waited beside it.

"He should be in here. Ready when you are." One said to her.

"Then lets go." her reply came.

"On my sign. 3... 2... 1... go." One Yotsuba destroyed the door. Two other had already prepared both magic and physical defense around Miyuki.

Now it was Miyuki's turn. Ignoring the bullets and spells the enemy was throwing in her direction, she casted _Cocytus_.

The room had turned silent. Their defense had only lasted a few seconds before the well-coordinated Yotsuba had killed everyone, except one person.

Miyuki took a few steps towards the corner and looked to the "VIP".

He was currently shaking in fear. Miyuki was taken aback. How cold such a coward dare to attack her family? Angrily, she began talking to him:

"Hello mister president, it is a honor to meet you." She spat out sarcastically. "What do you think about my attire? Is it not beautiful? I especially like the new color. It is called 'brazilian blood'."

The brazilian president gulped. He knew his last minutes had come. he just hoped it would be over soon.

"Please do not worry. There will be enough blood to dye everyone's clothes." Well, maybe not everyone's. The massacres of the Yotsuba were not aimless, so the amount of blood flowing would be limited. But the brazilian president did not know this.

It was time to end this. The brazilian reinforcements would arrive soon.

"Mister president, I know that this may sound clichè, but you have made exactly one mistake: You dared to attack the Yotsuba! You dared to kill my aunt! We Yotsuba may not be the nicest people, but we would have left you and your nation in peace if it were not for this attack. Tell me, what were you even thinking?"

"I..." He tried to formulate a response, but before he could really start his sentence, his head already felt to the ground.

"Would make a nice cup." One of her comrades suggested.

_Please not,_ Miyuki thought in disgust, _My stomach can only handle so much before I have to vomit._

* * *

**The next morning/a TV studio/Kimiko POV**

"Breaking news! Multiple cities and military bases were destroyed in a large scale attack on the Federative Republic of Brazil. Just a hour later, the dead bodies of the brazilian ministers were found. Eyewitnesses report that they were hanging headfirst on the walls of the brazilian parliament."

Kimiko gulped. This were awful news. And looking at the teleprompter before her, she knew that it would only get worse.

"Even worse, shortly after the first reporters arrived there, the whole building caught fire. It is likely that the perpetrators waited for the news to spread in order to cause even more panic."

And worse.

"While it is still unclear who was behind this attack, the estimated number of casualties is in the millions."

Kimiko had a bad feeling. In order to cause this many causalities in such a short time, nuclear weapons or SCM would be required. And nuclear weapons were banned.

"Brazil is currently in a civil war. For the past few months, the brazilian forces were fighting with heavily armed guerrillas. It is possible that this new attack could have been caused by the guerrillas. While it is well known that this conflict caused many civilian deaths, this would still be the first time an attack of this scale happened."

None of the japanese news mentioned the similarities between this attack and the magic used by japanese forces during _Scorched Halloween_. In fact, only very few news even mentioned the use of magic.

It appears that enough of them drew the connection between these attacks and the Yotsuba. And they did not dare to draw their wrath towards them.

* * *

**In the afternoon/In front of the Shiba family house/Retsu POV**

Kudou Retsu was currently standing in front of the door with the name _Shiba_ on it.

He hesitated a short moment, but then rang the bell.

He waited.

After a minute, he rang again.

After still not receiving any response, he turned back to his car, but did not yet walk towards it.

Instead, he casted a simple ancient magic spell. He searched for any traces of the residents, but still could not find any. Instead, he found another ancient magic spell laid over the estate.

Before he could inspect it in more detail, he noticed a new presence. He turned around and noticed a monk standing at the entrance.

"Master Kokonoe would like to inform you that this house is under his protection. He requests you to leave immediately." The monk said this and disappeared.

_Apparently this was one of the Monks under Kokonoe Yakumo. I should probably leave for now. The relationship between the ancient clans and the Kudou is already bad enough._ Retsu thought to himself and walked towards his car.

_And if Kokonoe is involved, there is a chance that that person is secretly pulling the strings._ Retsu remembered an ancient magician he once met. They had not talked much, but Retsu could feel that he held tremendous influence.

* * *

**At the same time/Inside a hypersonic transport/Tatsuya POV**

Tatsuya sat inside the hypersonic transport, which took him from Japan to Brazil. He was already wearing full combat gear.

His eyes seemed empty and he appeared unconcentrated, but anyone who knew about him and his abilities would know better.

Tatsuya was currently using _Elemental Sight_ to look over Miyuki.

Miyuki was physically fine, but he noticed her trembling. She was very stressed.

_Hold on, Miyuki. I will soon be by your side._

It would still take a few hours for him to arrive in Brazil and join up with her.

Then he would comfort her and let her cry in his arms. Tatsuya knew that Miyuki was not experienced enough in this field of work. He hoped that the would never have to gain such experience either, but now that she was the new head it was inevitable.

But he could at least try to ease her pain.

* * *

**A few hours later/A middle class hotel at the outskirts of a brazilian City/Miyuki POV**

Miyuki and Minami were playing a classic card game. While neither of them would normally prefer card games over "normal" games on their information terminals, both of them were thought a number of classic games. There were various situations in which this skill could come in handy.

In this case, they simply did not have their information terminal with them.

Electronic devices could be tracked. They left their personal terminals back in japan. Right now the only device they carried was a special mid-range communication device specifically designed to be untraceable.

In theory, their rough position could still be located by tracing the strength of the signal and triangulating the source . But this only worked while they were actively transmitting.

Other than this, everything looked like they were ordinary tourists.

They currently resided in a middle class hotel normally frequented by tourists, they ate local delicacies like normal tourists, they even went sightseeing just like normal tourists. Only at night they would meet up in secret and strike.

_Knock... Knock Knock... Knock_ A series a knocks resounded from the door. It followed a specific pattern previously agreed on. Whoever it was who knocked on the door, this person would likely be a Yotsuba.

Minami readied her CAD. There was no way to know for sure, so it was better to be prepared. Miyuki went to the door and opened it.

"Onii-sama!" Miyuki left out an ecstatic call. Tatsuya had finally arrived.

"Psst, Miyuki. It is OK now." Tatsuya embraced her after closing the door behind them.

Miyuki looked up, towards Tatsuya's face. Tears ran down her face.

"Apparently she was already at her limit." Tatsuya thought to himself. "It's OK. I am here now." he repeated.

"Onii-sama..." Miyuki could no longer hold back. She had longed for Tatsuya to be by her side, to soothe her pain. Even though it has only been a few days, she had missed him. And now he was finally here.

Miyuki put her hands on his cheecks and kissed him.

Minami was frozen in surprise while watching the scene.

* * *

**A week later/Top secret USNA Bunker/Balance POV**

It has been a week since the Yotsuba started their revenge. While this should have been more than enough time to shed light onto the situation, the opposite was the case.

After a week of rapid attacks, Brazil was left in disorder.

And there was still no evidence pointing to the culprits. Of course, anyone with a bit of skill and knowledge in the current world politics knew that the Yotsuba were behind this attack, but there was no proof.

They rarely learned about the attacks as they happened. Most of the times a few hours had already passed before someone noticed that a military base was destroyed.

The brazilian army could only stand back and watch. It was terrifying.

There were two cases where an attacker was killed. But as soon as the magician stopped moving, their body exploded, leaving only ashes behind.

But instead of giving hope to the loosing brazilian forces, these cases only led to more despair.

These killed magicians were top-level magicians. But they used generic attacks. Not _generic_ like "using normal spells", but _generic_ in the form of _using a signature magic used by multiple of the attackers_.

If the attackers really were the Yotsuba, then these magicians would not have a signature magic. The Yotsuba had no signature magic, only individually unique magics. This meant that the attackers would either be a _normal_ magic family or...

A shiver ran down Balanace's spine. Were the Yotsuba capable of mass producing top-level magicians?

Balance did not believe that someone other than the Yotsuba was behind this attack. The Yotsuba were nice enough to leave a few hints.

Hints like _brainwashing a pilot of the brazilian air force to crash his plane into the brazilian ministry of defense_. Clearly a homage to the _Nightmare of 2062_, in which the Yotsuba did the same.

Or hints like making whole battalions suddenly start killing each other. Mind magic was rare. There were not many capable of utilizing it to such a degree and on such a scale. Needless to say, the Yotsuba were capable of both.

_Still, it's better for us if the Yotsuba are the culprits. Otherwise it would mean that there is another threat we have to take care of. And the Yotsuba will at least ignore us unless we provoke them._

Balance let out yet another sigh. The next month would be busy.

* * *

**Another week later/Yotsuba main residence/Miyuki POV**

Miyuki was drinking the tea Hayama had served her. She had returned a few days ago and already had gotten used to working in Maya's old study.

Tatsuya was still in Brazil, hunting down any remaining high-ranking officials. He would join her next week and prepare for their return to first high.

It seemed like Hayama had already done a few preparations on his own. Right now, their house was being retrofitted with various security related things. Apparently even their walls and windows were being bullet proofed.

"Say, Hayama-san, is there anything important happening at first high?" Miyuki asked while reading yet another business-related document.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Like most magic high-schools, there remains an uneasy atmosphere."

Miyuki was not surprised. Not only was there a major terrorist attack on the TMC conference, just two days later another terrorist attack happened, this time directly aimed at the students. While it was harmless and staged by the Yotsuba, the students did not know this. For them, the only important detail was that the culprit was still not captured any may try again, maybe successful this time. And of course, the Brazilian populace (well, mostly only officials and soldiers) was currently being slaughtered by elusive attackers. At least some of the students would be capable of associating this event with the vengeful nature of the Yotsuba.

"Other than that, the increase in security at first high was also finished." Hayama added.

"Increase in security?"

"Yes, both officially and unofficially. We have transfered multiple guardians to first high, disguised as both students and teachers. We have also pressured the magic association into increasing the security at the magic high schools in response to the terrorist attacks. This should ensure your safety, my lady. Of course, these measures will do little compared to the security Tatsuya-sama will provide you with."

Miyuki nodded. There was nothing her Brother could not stop.

* * *

**In the Evening/Saegusa Mansion/Kouichi POV**

Saegusa Kouichi sat at the head end of the table in the dinner room of the family mansion.

The chairs around the table were mostly empty. Other than Kouichi, only his three daughters sat on them. His sons were busy with their own work and mostly living independently.

Even among these four, eating dinner together was a rare occurrence. Kouichi himself spend most of his dinners together with influential individuals. Still, he ensured that they would sit together at least once a month.

This time though, Kouichi arranged this dinner because there was something he wanted to ask his two youngest daughters.

"Kasumi, did anything interesting happen at first high during the last few weeks? Were the students able to cope with the recent terror attacks?" His concern about the other students was only superficial. While he did not wish any harm for them, he would not hesitate sacrificing their wellbeing for his plans. But this time, it was only used to mask his true intentions.

"They mostly got over it, but there is still a feeling of anxiety in the air." Kasumi replied.

"This is really unfortunate. Izumi, how was the student council able to handle the situation? Did the student council president gave a comforting speech?" Yet another pair of questions to mask the true questions.

"Shiba-senpai herself fell victim to the recent attack against the magic high schools. Oh, my beautiful senpai, I pray for your well-being." Kouichi choose to ignore the last part, but Kasumi didn't. He heard the sound of a kick below the table, followed by a pained expression on Izumi's face. Still, Miyuki's absence was yet another sign for him, further proofing his suspicion that she was a Yotsuba. Which led to another question: did the Yotsuba really allow their children to follow them in this war? As far as Kouichi knew, Miya and Maya had not participated during the war against Dahan.

"Other than that, first high received two new teachers and two more transfer students." Hearing this, Mayumi also listened more attentively. Like Kouichi, she understood the shortage of magic teachers in the high schools. It was rare enough that a new teacher started at a high school, and two at the same time starting at the same school was unprecedented.

This was the reason Kouichi had arranged for this dinner. He wanted to see what his daughters knew about this. He already received a new piece of information. He had not yet heard about the transfer students. _More Yotsuba? No, more likely some sort of bodyguards. The Yotsuba take the protection of their kin really serious. The teachers are most likely also bodyguards._ He thought to himself.

"Transfer students? At this time of year?" he asked. It was not actually the first time this happened. Last year, a student from the USNA arrived as part of an exchange program.

"It seems like they recently moved in nearby. We heard that they are twins and already have an older sister studying at first high. Other than this, not much is known about them."

This response was not as helpful as he hoped, but it further cemented his belief that these transfers were not normal magicians, though he still lacked proof.

"You said the student council president was hit by the recent attack? How is her health?" Another question. Hearing it, Mayumi slowly got an idea what this conversion was really aimed at. _Raccoon dad_, she thought once again.

"We do not know the details, but we received a mail from her stating that she should be able to return within the next week." Izumi worked with her in the student council, so she knew it the best.

This was rather helpful for Kouichi "This means that the Shiba's were not fighting in Brazil. Even the Yotsuba would require more than a few weeks to bring down a nation. So it was likely only in order to increase the security. If the Shibas are Miya's children, then they are likely the only remains of the the main family of the Yotsuba, so they would be heavily protected." he thought.

"Well, I certainly hope for her recovery. Say, Izumi, why don't you sometime invite her over for dinner? As some sort of apology that we were unable to prevent the terrorist attacks." After her father's request to Izumi, Mayumi felt her theory confirmed. _So that was what you were after._

"Sure, I will do it." Izumi was too excited about the chance of dinner with her senpai to notice the abnormality of such an invitation by her father.

* * *

**The next week/House Shiba/Minami POV**

Minami had followed Miyuki and Tatsuya back to their home. It was still early in the morning when they arrived and they would only have a few minutes to switch into their school uniforms before they would have to leave for first high.

Due to the last few weeks they had gotten used to be up early, but the trip from the main house back to their own house had still taken a few hours. Minami was actually surprised that they could still arrive on time.

As soon as they had entered the house, they had noticed the modifications to their house. Even the floor plan on the ground level was altered to provide extra cover in case of emergencies. Still, they had to hurry and thus had no time to inspect the home thoroughly.

Minami entered her room and opened the closet to put her own uniform on. But before she could do so, she noticed that something was off.

She turned around and could not believe her eyes.

Instead of her bed, there were now three beds. And two of them seemed to have been used rather recently.

"Onii-sama, Minami-chan! Hurry up, we are going to be late for school!" a shout resounded from below. It seemed like Miyuki was excited to finally have some sort of normality back in her life.

**Part 1 end.**

* * *

**Authors note:**

Well, it seems like the final chapter of the first part is now finished.

I will proceed to upload this fanfic over the course of the next few weeks, but if you are reading this, I will probably already be finished.

This part was meant as an introduction to the story, but i am not sure when i will continue this story.

By the way, does anyone of you have naming suggestions for the twins? As you have probably already guessed, they are Yotsuba guardians. I am not sure whether they should be sakurai-series guardians or from another series. Sakurai would make sense with their official 'sister'-background, but i am not sure whether it would add much to the story. If you have any suggestions, please do not be afraid of sharing them. I am also not sure about their gender, but i think i will go with femal. This way it would be less weird for them to sleep in the same room with Minami. Or maybe they will be a male and a female.

I apologize if these last two chapters felt a bit rushed. This is my first fanfic and I have yet to figure out a good pacing. I also lacked ideas of how to write the Yotsuba during their Quest of vengeance, so I opted to write it mostly from the POVs of third parties.

Well, anyway, the next part is _Slice of life_ about being the head of the Yotsuba while attending high school at the same time.

**Authors note - Addendum:**

Thank you for your reviews. This was the first chapter adjusted after your feedback, btw. The next part is not yet written (and not even fully planned). Your reviews provided me with quite a few ideas regarding the plot, so i am actually glad i have not yet started writing part 2.

I hope you enjoyed part 1.

**Edit February 10th 2020:** I just finished implementing one of the style suggestions (speech is no longer italic). I am still planning the next part, but it got delayed. It are always some details which takes the most time. It took me a few months just to settle for the names of the twins.

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	7. Ch06 - Back to school

**The hidden Head - Chapter 6 - Back to school**

* * *

**A few hours later/Class 1-C classroom/Minami POV**

Minami let out an exhausted sigh. Despite the overall gloomy atmosphere caused by the recent events, her classmates were still overly excited about her return to school. Unfortunately for Minami, this enthusiasm stemmed from their curiosity about the biological attack recently.

While some people may have enjoyed such attention from their classmates, Minami certainly did not. Guardians were not supposed to receive much attention. Of course, they were trained to draw attention if needed. Sometimes they even had to look suspicious. After all someone who always looks unsuspicious would appear suspicious to the intelligence agencies. Still, Minami was shy.

So when her classmates surrounded her when she arrived, Minami quickly told them the prepared cover story. Some of her classmates looked like they were about to vomit when she described her "disease" in more graphical details. Frankly, she felt the same way when she read the medical report of the used virus. Still, duty was duty and Minami preferred reading these reports rather then having the images directly etched into her brain. And yes, the Yotsuba were ready to go to such length for their cover stories.

She wanted to avoid another of these interrogations by her classmates, which, although harmless compared to her training both in conducting and withstanding interrogations, were rather stressful for her. So when the bell signaling the end of the lesson sounded, Minami quickly stood up and headed for the door.

"Minami-nee!" the voice of two people could be heard from the door when Minami opened it.

Even tough Minami already expected the transfer of reinforcements to First High and the changes to her room reminded her of this, she expected their introduction to be done outside of school.

"So this is your classroom, Minami-nee?" One of them, a girl, asked cheerfully.

But this was not what drew Minami's attention.

"Yes. Although I did not expect the two of you to visit this abruptly." This was certainly true, albeit the content of their conversation did not really matter at the moment. Instead Minami was focused on her gestures. For an outsider, they may look like the normal hand movements most people do while talking, but it was actually a way for guardians to communicate secretly. Even most Yotsuba did not know about this.

_Cousins_, Minami read. She did not require any proof that these two were indeed Yotsuba guardians. For one, it was plainly obvious that they were Sakura-series guardians. In addition, Minami was fairly sure that she had never seen those two at First High before, which must mean that they just recently transfered in. And right now, the Yotsuba would be monitoring the school closely.

Minami turned to her classmates who were observing the situation.

"Err... the two are my cousins, who just transfered here. You two, why don't you introduce yourselves?"

"Of course!", the girl said, "My name is Sakurai Asahi and my shy brother here is Sakurai Kairi."

"I am not shy! You just talk so fast that I am unable to say a word." the boy named Kairi retorted.

"Of course, of course." Asahi laughed. "Anyway, we are Minami-nee's cousins. Like Minami-nee said, we just transferred here due to the terrorist strikes. Our parents believe we are safer here. This may sound weird at first, but they believe that the terrorists will have a hard time attacking here. The government is unlikely to allow another attack in the capital. By the way, I am the older twin." The last part was exclaimed happily.

"Maybe by a few seconds, but you still behave like a small child!" Kairi retorted once again.

_They are good at lying_ Minami thought. _The few classmates who were skeptical about her introduction were easily distracted when they steered the conversation to sibling quarrel._ The part about being the older twin was obviously a lie for her. Sakurai-series could not be twins. They were more likely part of the same batch produced by the 4th Research Institute.

"If you are cousin's of Minami, you must also be cousins of the Student Council President! Do you two know her well?" One of Minami's classmates asked.

"We know them, but not well. We are distantly related to them, but not as much as to Minami. Still, we sometimes played together when we were younger."

Minami noticed the hesitation before their answer. While they likely expected such questions, it would normally still be unthinkable that a mere guardian would claim being related to the great head of the Yotsuba family. The guardians respected the Yotsuba, especially their head. No, respect may not be the right word. They deify them. The Yotsuba gave them their life and, if the wanted to, could take it easily from them. But the Yotsuba rarely did so. Instead, they trained, educated and raised them, albeit en masse. For the Yotsuba, most of them were mere servants and bodyguards, but some of them were like family members for them. But for the Guardians, the Yotsuba were everything. Even Minami was jealous of Tsutsumi Kotona, a guardian who became fiancee of a Yotsuba. Claiming to be kin to the head would normally have earned them severe contempt by their fellow guardians.

"Anyway, Asahi, Kairi, why don't we go to the cafeteria and eat something?" Minami wanted to leave quickly.

* * *

**After School/Student Council Room**

In first high, the student council as well as the siblings' circle of friends sat together.

Just like Minami, they had to "share their perspective" of the recent terrorist strike. Unlike class 1-C, their friends abstained from requesting more details.

"Still, wasn't this dangerous? You could have died, Tatsuya-san!" Honoka asked frightened.

"Honoka, even if the terrorists would have used a lethal virus we would be fine. You have seen my magic in Yokohama, haven't you?" Tatsuya tried to calm her.

"By the way, have you seen the new transfer students? They are actually distant cousins of us." Miyuki tried to steer the conversation away from the virus while simultaneously trying to introduce the new guardians. Both of the siblings had received a message from Minami and had decided to prepare their friends for the introduction of their new cousins. Meanwhile Minami and the "twins" would return home. The twins, being guardians on their first day of their new position, did protest. After reminding them of Tatsuya's strength however, the two of them complied.

"Really? How many cousins do you have?" Mikihiko asked surprised. He had actually noticed Miyuki's attempt to change topics, but believed she simply wanted to talk about something less disgusting.

"A few actually. You head about the early attempts by the government to increase the number of magicians, I assume?" This was actually something that they have learned in the 1st year. Most "normal" magic families stem from this initiative. In essence, families with high magic potential outside of the research institutes were encouraged to have many children. It was not rare for multiple generations in a row to have six or more children. This policy only changed after a public outcry, which also abolished the laws that magicians had to have children. Still, the social pressure remained.

"Ah, I see. Sorry for asking."

"Do not fret about it. You probably did not know this due to being from an ancient family. Hey, Izumi-chan how many more documents do we have to process?" Miyuki asked in an exhausted tone after Izumi put down another stack of paper in front of her.

"These should be the last ones. Is something wrong Miyuki-senpai? You look worn out." Izumi gazed worriedly at Miyuki.

"Yes, I am indeed a bit exhausted, but its nothing you have to worry about, Izumi-chan."

"Really? Is there something I can help you with?" Izumi was really enthusiastic about a chance to help Miyuki.

"No Izumi-chan. You see, my Aunt is recently deceased and I inherited the family business -"

_shatter_

Erika had dropped her glass and looked at Miyuki with a terrified expression.

"Everything OK, Erika?" Mikihiko asked. "You look horrified."

"N-No... It's OK Miki, I was just shocked and dropped my glass, which is unbecoming of a swordsman like me. Just imagine if I had actually dropped my sword."

"Anyway," Miyuki continued, "I have to fill in lots of paperwork and had to stay up late. Add to this the virus attack and I may be a bit overworked right now. But this is nothing you have to worry about, Izumi-chan."

"Really? Maybe my father could help you out?" Shizuku offered. Her Father was an industry magnate and would happily help a few friends out, but -

"Shizuku, you should not involve yourself in their family business. Sooner or later they will have to handle this on their own and its better if they learn it sooner. Besides, I have a rough idea what their family business is and it's better for everyone here if you do not involve yourself further with it." Erika shot the idea down.

"What? Are they like Mafia bosses or so?" Leo asked amusedly.

His answer as a sharp glare from Erika.

"Hey, you know this was a joke. If that would actually be the case, you, a Chiba, would not be friends with them, would you?"

Hearing this, Miyuki was briefly worried. But since Erika seems to know about her being a Yotsuba and was still friends with her, her worries were eased.

"Errm... Miyuki-senpai, if you are exhausted, how about you take a break? Actually, my father invited both of you to our mansion. He wants to apologize for being unable to prevent the recent attacks. I am sure our servants could help you relax." Izumi reentered the conversation.

Miyuki thought a bit before accepting the invitation. "Sure. I always wanted to see the mansion of one of the master clans."

Unknown to Izumi, Miyuki did not actually see this as a way to relax. She knew that Saegusa Kouichi must suspect their affiliation with the Yotsuba or even knows about them being family members. Still, it was better if they talked with him rather than let the Saegusa reveal their identities.

"Great! I'll send you the details then."

* * *

**Two hours later/Shiba Residence/Miyuki POV**

"Welcome home, Toushu-sama, Shiba-sama!" Miyuki and Tatsuya were greeted by an enthusiastic shout when they opened the Door.

_These two must be the additional guardians Minami told us about. They look just like Minami. And Honami_. A sad feeling overcame Miyuki when she thought about her mother's late guardian. _I hope I can convince them to drop the "Toushu-sama"..._

"You two must be Asahi-san and Kairi-san. You don't have to bow before us. Minami has already informed us about your arrival." Miyuki disliked their excessive respect. "Also, please call us Miyuki and Tatsuya. I feels uncomfortable being called _Toushu-sama_."

"But Toushu-sama, it is unbefitting for servants like us to call you by first name!" Asahi protested.

"If you were to call Miyuki _Toushu-sama_, someone may ask questions. You can never know who may be eavesdropping on us." Tatsuya responded while thinking of First-Lieutenant Fujibayashi, the famous _Electron sorceress_. As of know, the 101 IMEB should not be aware of Miyuki's new status, but if these two would continue calling them like this, they would soon find out. He only hoped that the Yotsuba reinforced the residence's cyber defense even further. Not that it would help for an extended period of time against Fujibayashi.

"Understood. Our sincerest apologies, Tatsuya-sama." Kairi answered instead of his "sister", who seemed unable to respond. "We were sent here both for your protection as well as ensuring your well-being. Asahi-san will assist Minami-dono with the household..." He gestured towards Asahi. Miyuki frowned. She had waged a quite war with Minami about this. Still, she had to admit that she no longer had the time to participate with the household chores, as much as it pained her. "... and I will assist you with the paperwork. Hayama-dono will stay at the main residence and manage the family's everyday business from there."

Hearing the mention of Hayama, Minami chose this moment to inform the pair of a recent message. "Miyuki-sama, Tatsuya-sama, Hayama-dono actually requested you to call him soon. Apparently it is related to your new _duties_."

* * *

**30 minutes later/Living Room/Miyuki POV**

Immediately after Miyuki entered the last digit of Hayama's phone number, the room went dark. The glass became opaque and quite buzzing filled the room as the hidden computers began encrypting the connection while simultaneously sending fake data to several dummies. The Yotsuba's communication security was always top notch, but was even further reinforced after the recent events.

After a few seconds, Hayama could be seen on the screen.

"Greetings, milady. I hope you did not encounter any problems at school?" Hayama bowed for his greetings.

"No, Hayama-san. Thank you for ensuring the smooth resumption of our studies."

"It is my duty to support you to my utmost abilities, milady."

"So, Hayama-san, why did you want us to call you?" Miyuki asked expectantly.

"Milady, have you ever heard the name _'Toudou Aoba?'_."

"No." Miyuki answered truthfully. "What about him?"

"His Excellency Toudou Aoba is an important sponsor of the Yotsuba and one of the previous owners of the Fourth Research Institute. The partnership between him and the Yotsuba is rather deep and important for everyone involved." explained Hayama.

"I understand. Since this my first time hearing this, I assume this relation is a secret?"

"Yes and no. It is certainly not something an outsider should know, but a few of the branch family heads are aware of his Excellency and our business with him. Anyway, " Hayama continued, "he requested a meeting with you. Knowing that the Yotsuba can hardly decline, he already chose time and location for the meeting."

Miyuki was surprised by this. _We have never met before, how could he be so sure I would accept? Well, Hayama-san is referring to him as 'his Excellency', so he must be really important..._

"Of course. Where and when?" Tatsuya accepted on behalf of Miyuki, who was still lost in thoughts.

"Today at 18:00 at the Kyuuchou Temple. I apologize for this sudden appointment, but he is rather important to the Yotsuba."

Both Miyuki and Tatsuya were surprised by the location. While the temple was certainly a secure location, they had not expected Kokonoe to be involved in this.

"No problem. Then I guess we better get ready soon."

* * *

**17:45/Kyuuchou Temple**

Miyku, Tatsuya and Minami stood in front of the Kyuuchou temple. They still had fifteen minutes before the appointed time and were looking for Kokonoe-sensei. They were a bit earlier than necessary because they believed Kokonoe to have one if his usual 'surprise spars' with Tatsuya.

Surprisingly, this did not occur. The court of the temple was empty. It was, however, not abandoned. Looking around with _elemental sight_, Tatsuya could spot a single human inside one of the rooms. Around the temple, several disciples where protecting the temple. And a few meters behind himself...

Tatsuya spun around.

"Hello, Tatsuya-kun." His teacher stood there.

_How? It is nearly impossible to sneak up to me. Was he holding back in our spars?_ This was one of the few times where Tatsuya was actually surprised.

"His Excellency is awaiting you inside, but you probably already know this, don't you, Tatsuya-kun?"

The three of them followed Kokonoe. After a few minutes, they arrived at a door near the center of the temple.

"He is waiting inside. Here, our ways must part for now, as I am not allowed to participate in this conversation." He turned around and left.

Opening the door, they were greeted by an old man with big round eyes and thick eyebrows sitting on a table. His gaze drifted over the group. When his cloudy left eye looked at Minami, she nearly grabbed her CAD due to the pressure she felt.

"There is no need for caution, Sakurai Minami. I held countless such meetings with the previous heads and I intend on continuing our cooperation. Now sit down," he gestured to the seats before him, "I had Kokonoe make his disciples prepare some food for us. It is not as fine and qualitative as I am accustomed to, but this place provides us with the necessary security. Still, I hope that our next meeting will be in a more... fine location."

"There is no problem with this location.", Miyuki said while sitting down, "Both me and my bro- err, fiancee are often visiting this temple."

"I know. My connections are rather extensive. Let's start with the meal, we can talk while eating" Toudou took a chicken leg from the table. Miyuki, Tatsuya and Minami also began eating.

"First of all, let me congratulate you for becoming the new head of the Yotsuba. You may be young, but I am sure you can live up to the expectations of your family, especially with you fiancee by your side." Toudou Aoba was aware of Miyuki's and Tatsuya's actual background, but he did not care. He had faith in the Fourth Research Institute he once owned and believed Maya when she told him that there would be no complications.

"I feel honored by your praise, your Excellency." Hayama had informed Miyuki and Tatsuya about Toudou Aoba's importance for the Yotsuba and some of the details, so Miyuki made sure to show the appropriate respect to him.

"Although the circumstances of your inheritance are tragic, you handled it well for now. Speaking of which, you sure are making a show in Brazil." He gazed at Tatsuya, clearly hinting at the SCM strikes.

"We are sorry if this may have damaged your business, but we believe this to be necessary for our family." Tatsuya responded for Miyuki.

"There are no problems with your actions. The economic damage I personally suffered is negligible and your performance actually fit well with my plans. Truth to be told, I believe Japan needs a deterrence against foreign invaders. And if the simultaneously destruction of 36 strategic targets on the other side of the world is not a deterrence, then I do not know what would qualify as one. According to my sources, most governments now recognize the danger of attacking Japan and will think twice before trying another invasion. That being said, they will try even harder to find and kill you, Shiba Tatsuya. Countless Countries are already planning on infiltrating Japan. Nothing I believe the Yotsuba could not handle." Miyuki understood the implications. The Yotsuba would have to take care of them. Still, this was the same work the normally do. "Of course, I'll pay you for the troubles. Are 1000 cushions enough?"

Miyuki did not know what cushions referred too, so she looked at her brother, who nodded towards her.

"Yes." she answered.

"We will also have to ensure that the general public will not link your actions to Japan. I already have a plan, but the Yotsuba need to execute it."

Miyuki and Tatsuya listened to his plan, before accepting it. They spent the rest of the evening discussing business and reaffirming old agreements.

When they returned home, they quickly informed Hayama of the plan, who immediately began the preparations.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Hello everyone, it's been a while. At the time of writing this chapter it is already February. I certainly did not plan such a long delay, but here we are.

First it took me two months to settle on the names of the "twins", then I wasted another month trying to learn about the japanese school system and breaks before giving up and changing the story. This coupled with attending university caused this delay.

Like last time, I plan on writing multiple chapters before uploading this one, but it will likely be less than in part 1. How do some people manage to write fanfics with more than a million words? Maybe its easier for them due to a better understanding of the english language, but who knows?

I tried to implement some of the suggestions you made. Speech is no longer italic and I made some minor grammatical improvements. However, there is not much I can do about most grammatical mistakes simply because I am unaware of my own mistakes.

As expected, many reviews criticized Maya's death and suggested some alternatives. I feel like some of them are more "realistic", but would not have the same implications. I actually wrote an entire one-shot about possible scenarios for Maya's death, but I fear uploading it may make me appear to be a psychopath. I just hope that people do not already think this about me after reading the Yotsuba's revenge against Brazil.

As you can see, I settled for the twins to be a boy and a girl. Many suggestions were made for both sides, but I believe that I can create more interesting situations with a boy and a girl. By the way, I originally planned for the twins to be called _Akira_ and _Yoru_ and only realized a few days ago that _Yoru_ is our favorite Ayako's nickname...

I am honestly not sure when to do the great "reveal" about their identities. On one hand, this fanfic is supposed to be about Miyuki being hidden. On the other hand, I absolutely love reveals, especially if it is something the reader has known for a while but the other characters not. This is one of the reasons why Vol17 is one of my favorite arcs.

**!Spoiler for later parts of the novel!**

This is also why I am so disappointed in the "Taurus Silver" reveal. I hoped it would be more like vol17.

**Spoiler end**

I am not sure I managed the interactions with Toudou correctly. I fear that I wrote him a bit too casual, but I am not sure how to change this.

Anyway, why are so many of you following me (the author)? I never really understood why someone would follow an author on fanfiction. There is no guarantee that my next work (if there is one) will be another one about mahouka. While I am planning some (One shipping Tatsuya with Ayako, maybe my own variation of good, but seemingly abandoned fanfics, a mass-effect X-over), there are also other novels (like toaru) which I am interested in.

Well, I am not criticizing you for this, I am merely curious.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

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	8. Ch07 - Blame

**The hidden Head - Chapter 7 - Blame**

* * *

**The next morning/TV broadcast/Kimiko POV**

"Breaking news! The New Soviet Union's strategic class magician Igor Andreevich Bezobrazov has been found dead. At first the NSU denied such reports, but evidence of his death leaked quickly.

"Multiple other corpses were found in the surroundings. They were identified as his bodyguards as well as at that time unknown strangers.

"Just a hour after Bezobrazov's death, the brazilian intelligence agency claimed responsibility for the attack. In their press release, they claimed Bezobrazov's involvement in the recent strike against brazilian cities and military bases. According to the press release, the brazilian rebels cooperated with Bezobrazov in order to get the upper hand in this conflict. As proof, they released documents identifying the unknown corpses new Bezobrazov as leaders of the rebel army. The NSU denies these claims."

Unknown to the public and Kimiko, the brazilian intelligence agency was already annihilated a few days ago. The Yotsuba simply assumed it's role and made the announcement. Of course, no government would actually believe these claims. Bezobrazov was simply not powerful enough to pull something like this attack off. Still, it was enough for the general public and no state dared to correct this believe. The NSU did want to clarify the situation, but they had to get rid of the unknown strategic class magician first or they would risk a similar attack.

* * *

**At the same time/Shiba Residence/Tatsuya POV**

"Our family surely does work fast. They had to capture the rebel leaders and put them on a hypersonic transport within two hours for this to work. I am impressed." Tatsuya commented with a smirk.

"Yes, I expected nothing less of the Shibata branch, although we only managed this with the support of Toudou. Without his information about the rebel leaders this would have taken significantly longer." Miyuki then looked towards Minami. "Minami-chan, would you be so nice and bring me another tea?"

"I'm on it, Miyuki-sama!" this reply was not from Minami. Instead, Asahi jumped into action and tried to make the tea, much to Minami's dismay.

Tatsuya ignored Asahi's actions and continued speaking with Miyuki. "I received a summon from Lieutenant Colonel Kazama. He and general Saeki wish to speak with me. I'll head there after school. I'll be counting on your guardians to protect you, but know that I'll always watch over you."

"Of course, Onii-sama!" Miyuki exclaimed with glee. She was happy of Tatsuya's reaffirmation of him protecting her. Her guardians also responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!", although, technically they did not have much of a choice.

* * *

**A few hours later/Stars Headquarter/Lina POV**

Angelina Kudou Shields heard a knocking on the door.

She was currently on stand by, just like the last few days. In fact, she was on stand by ever since Yotsuba Maya's sudden death. Her higher ups feared the enraged Yotsuba. Even before this, most officers feared their name. But this was on a whole different level. Scrap that, this new fear was on a whole different realm.

Just yesterday, Lina was instructed by a secret service agent about being a bodyguard. The implications were quite clear: In case of a similar situation, they intended for the SCMs to become the president's bodyguards.

_Honestly, what an idiotic Idea. My abilities are simply not fit for bodyguard work. The only reason their wanting to use SCMs is probably that some higher up heard the term 'strategic class' and believed us to be equivalent to the attacker. Even if there was a situation where Brionac would be of use, it's output is nowhere near THAT level._

Lina stood up and walked to the door of her barracks. _Who could it be?_

She opened the door. On the other side was Colonel Balance accompanied by several guards. They wore CADs, so they were likely magicians.

"Colonel? Is there a new mission?" She was surprised it was Colonel Balance who had knocked on the door. Usually she would be called to the Colonel's room. This was the first time Balance visited her room instead.

"No, but there were unexpected Developments. I'll make this short: Due to the recent assassination of the strategic class magician Bezobrazov, the level of protection for all strategic class magicians has been increased. You are simply to valuable to risk."

_What? Well, I guess at least someone has common sense._

"Thus, " Balance continued, "these guards will now be assigned for your protection. For the time being, you will also be excluded from upcoming missions. I hope you can understand our reasons. This is all."

Before Lina could protest, Balance had already turned to leave.

_It seems like I'll have to stay in here a while longer..._

* * *

**At the same time/Digital conference room**

Ten people were participating in another conference. They were nine heads from the Ten Master Clans as well as Kudou Retsu. This meeting was, of course, also regarding the Yotsuba.

"How is the damage control going?" This question was asked by the head of the Yatsushiro family, Yatsushiro Raizou.

"It's barely holding. We have suffered severe setbacks due to the recent reveal. Prior to this, we attempted to conceal the involvement of magic in the attack on Brazil. However, the recent assassination of Bezobrazov undid our efforts. Instead, the humanists correctly believe this was withheld from them by our influence. They do however believe that Bezobrazov was indeed the culprit of the attack."

After hearing Saegusa Kouichi's report, the other participants nodded.

"The Yotsuba need to be punished for being so uncooperative. Where is their so-called _'envoy'_?" Ichijou roared.

The _envoy_ he was talking about was a man called Shirakawa (A/n: the 6th butler, not the head maid), who had introduced himself as the representative of the Yotsuba a few days ago. Mister Shirakawa claimed that the new family head of the Yotsuba was preoccupied for the time being and he would participate in the meetings instead.

The other family heads thanked Shirakawa for attending the meeting, then made it abundantly clear that they required the presence of their actual head and that his/her absence was unacceptable.

"We did not invite him. And what good would it be if he were here? The Yotsuba clearly sent one of their subordinates. If we only scold him, their actual head would not face any consequences or feel any guilt for their actions."

"Anyway," Atsuko interrupted and looked at Retsu, "did you succeed in contacting the actual members of the Yotsuba family, Sensei?"

"Unfortunately not. I visited them a few days ago, but their residence was empty. It is likely that they went on a 'vacation' in Brazil." While Retsu may have avoided directly describing their actions, everyone here understood what he meant with their 'vacation in Brazil'.

"Quite a shame, honestly. Though this is not problematic. Now that the Yotsuba have provided us with a point of contact other than the magic association, we no longer need to contact them. I am sure they will appreciate it if the master clans do no approach their family members directly." Kouichi's comment had ulterior motives. He was sure that Kudou tried to contact the Shiba family. Using his daughters, he had already invited them for a dinner this evening. If he managed to mislead the other heads into abandoning the investigation into the siblings, he would be the first to talk to them.

"How should we punish the Yotsuba?" Ichijou asked.

"I doubt there is much we can do. Kick them out of the Ten Master Clans? This would only make the situation worse. Penalize them economically? We don't even know any of their businesses excluding performing black OPs for the government. Denounce them publicly? The public will connect the dots and us magicians will be blamed for the recent massacre." Futatsugi Mai's explanation sat not well with the other heads.

"Can't we force them to reveal themselves in the public?"

"Of course not. They would simply resign from the TMC and hide even further in the darkness instead. Still, we must weaken the Yotsuba. They have grown too strong."

"But how?"

No one responded to this question, even though a few individuals had an idea.

* * *

**After school/Tsuchiura Base/Tatsuya POV**

"WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING!?" Major General Saeki screamed at Tatsuya, who had just entered her office. Other than Saeki and Tatsuya, Lieutenant Colonel Kazama was also present and just as displeased as Saeki was.

_This reaction was to be expected_, Tatsuya thought to himself. _Still, we prepared for this situation..._

"YOU ARE AN OFFICER IN THE MILITARY! YOU FOLLOW ORDERS! AND I AM DAMN SURE THAT YOU WERE NOT ORDERED TO KILL MILLIONS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE!" Saeki was furious.

"The use of _Material Burst_ was permitted by the ministry of defense. You should have been notified about this."

"CUT THAT CRAP, SPECIAL LIEUTENANT! We both know that your family pressured them into this!" Saeki did not accept Tatsuya's excuse. "Do you even realize the damage you have done? Your family's idea of a cleanup was killing a SCM! You should realize the geopolitical impact of this action alone!"

Of course, Tatsuya knew this. Each nation kept tight tabs on every known SCM. Still, Saeki's informations seemed incomplete. Tatsuya knew that she would find it out sooner or later, so she may as well tell her.

"Actually, three strategic class magicians were killed. In addition to Bezobrazov, there were also two in Brazil."

Saeki looked at him with a complex expression. For one, she was still furious, probably even more than before. But she was also surprised about this. Officially, Brazil only had one SCM. She probably realized that this meant that Brazil had another one, an unregistered SCM. And that the Yotsuba knew about him, likely even before their attack.

"Tatsuya, while I agree with the Major General, I also understand that your family is unlikely to have given you a choice." Kazama interjected before Saeki could continue. While this would normally be seen as Kazama being disrespectful towards his superior officer, both of them knew that this discussion was going nowhere.

"Which brings us to the next point: the change in your familial circumstances. We must discuss something with your new family head. For one, we must make it clear that their actions can not be tolerated. Secondly, we must talk about our contract regarding your involvement in the battalion." Saeki had finally continued the conversation.

"My apologies, but the Yotsuba family has decided to hide our new head for the time being. You will be pleased, however, that my family decided to continue upholding our contract."

"CONTINUE UPHOLDING OUR CONTRACT!? Special Lieutenant, I definitely would not describe your actions as _'upholding our contract'_." Saeki was still furious.

"The contract between the JSDF and the Yotsuba family gave my guardian duties towards my sister precedence. Since an attack on our Head implies an attack on our whole family and thus also Miyuki, my actions are covered by said guardian duties." Tatsuya rebutted.

Saeki seemed like she would once again scream at Tatsuya, but suppressed her anger.

"Anyway, we still have to speak with your new family head. You should understand that we can not simply let this go."

"If you insist, I can request an envoy from my family, but not more. You must understand that we still haven't found the mole responsible for leaking the details of the conference."

"Are you suspecting us, Tatsuya?" Kazama was appalled.

"No, of course not. But it is the truth that the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion would have the resources for this. And unless we are 100% sure, we can't risk another leak." Tatsuya looked at both of them. "If this is all, I will take my leave."

"Yes, that should be all for now. But do not believe we will let these matters rest."

Hearing this, Tatsuya left the room.

* * *

**After Tatsuya left/Tsuchiura Base**

"What do you think about out conversation with the Special Lieutenant?" Saeki asked Kazama.

"As expected, he was less than cooperative. And hiding their new head? God, the Yotsuba seem to grow less responsible by the day. Well at least they have covered Tatsuya's casting of _'Material Burst'_." Kazama's last point referred to multiple proofs showing Tatsuya in a normal civil life when SCM was used. An alibi of some sort. While both of them knew that this alibi was somewhat faked - the psion sensors in the surroundings were replaced - it seemed to work so far. Fujibayashi could confirm that foreign intelligence divisions had acquired these videos while trying to find evidence about the unknown strategic class magic user. Saeki herself confirmed that she would mistake the faked evidence as proof of Tatsuya's innocence, so they were rather sure this alibi was working.

"Yes, that they have. But this growing lack of responsibility by the Yotsuba is problematic. While I hope that this is just one of their impulsive phases, just like when they annihilated Dahan, these phases themselves constitute a problem. While the Yotsuba were always catastrophic when angered, they were devastating this time. They simply can not be allowed to have a strategic class magician unless they grow out of their impulsiveness."

Actually, the actions of the Yotsuba were not that impulsive. They were planned thoroughly. The Yotsuba simply did not hesitate to execute these fresh plans because they did not have any moral problems with their plans. For them, it was the simple question of the results being worth the cost.

"Are you saying we should separate Tat- err the Special Lieutenant from the Yotsuba family? I doubt he would cooperate. You know of his circumstances. While he may not care for the Yotsuba family, his sister means everything to him. He won't go against her."

"I agree, but we have to try. He may not leave his sister voluntary, but his family may send him away if we put enough pressure on them. But for this, we would need the help of the Ten Master Clans." Saeki sighed. "And they will only cooperate in exchange for _him_. Still, this may actually make it easier for us."

"So you want the Special Lieutenant to marry into another clan? I doubt the clans would settle for anything less. So which clan do you have in mind? The Saegusa?"

"No, not the Saegusa. They are already too strong and their head is too involved in political games. We would only swap one evil for another one. Neither the Kudou, which have too deep connections to the military. If they got the special lieutenant, their influence would skyrocket." Actually the Kudou left the master clans a few days ago, but they were still more of a top clan than the Shippou.

"What about the Juumonji?" Kazama began iterating over the remaining clans.

"Their only daughter is still in elementary school. She is too young."

"Mutsuzuka?"

"Also no children in his age group. Their current head is only 29."

Kazama was surprised. Saeki seemed to be aware of the family members of the various clans. While it was well known that she kept tabs on the clans, she also appeared to have investigated them a bit more. Kazama continued: "Mitsuya?"

"A possible candidate. Their youngest daughter will actually enroll at first high next school year. She is however rather close to another boy in her age."

"It would be news for me that the clans care about the love of their children. Still, they are more likely to object in this case, though still unlikely. What about the Ichijou?"

"Their only daughter in the acceptable age range has romantic feelings to their adopted son. They may not accept."

"Futatsugi?"

"Also no children in his age group. Same with the Yatsushiro."

"That would only leave the Itsuwa family. But their daughter is both too old and too sick."

"They actually have another daughter, who is currently enrolled at seventh high. And they will likely cooperate. The recent conferences between the clans First Lieutenant Fujibayashi tapped into should be proof enough."

With this, their conversation ended.

* * *

**In the evening/Saegusa Mansion/Miyuki POV**

When the siblings and Minami arrived at the entrance of the luxurious Saegusa Mansion, Mayumi was already there to greet them. After a rather short introduction, Mayumi lead them to the reception room, where Saegusa Kouichi welcomed them. The servants of the Saegusa had already prepared the dining room, so they were able to start their meal immediately. Izumi and Kazumi were already seated when they entered the room.

"Thank you for accepting our Invitation." Kouichi started, "After I heard about you being victims of one of the recent terrorist strikes, I felt a deep guilt for being unable to stop them. As members of japan's magic community, you probably already know this, but it is the responsibility and duty of the Ten Master Clans to protect both magicians and non-magicians. But the chaos from a few days ago had taken us by surprise and paralyzed us. Since you two were amongst the victims we failed to protect, I asked my dear daughters to invite you three so I could personally check your wellbeing."

Needless to say, no one in this room believed him even for a split second. The Siblings and Minami were always weary of the Saegusa, especially their head Kouichi. His daughters learned quickly how manipulative their father was and always expected him to have ulterior motives.

"We also wish to thank you for inviting us. It is a great honor to dine with one of the master clans, the famous Saegusa nonetheless." Miyuki feigned a smile as she went along with his formalism. "The Saegusa do not have to feel responsible for the attack we suffered. Nobody had expected such a barbaric strike involving biological weapons. Though due to fortunate circumstances, we did not suffer any serious injuries or long-lasting health problems."

"Yes, I have to say that you recovered remarkable well. Although some of the victims were already healthy a few days ago, most of them are still unable to attend school."

"We were quite lucky. It seems like a healthy diet and up-to-date vaccines can do wonders." _He suspects us_, thought Miyuki.

"Is that so?" Of course, Kouichi did not believe them. It was undeniable that they recovered suspiciously fast. The Yotsuba had anticipated this and ensured some students would recover quickly and return to school even faster than them, but they were still within the first five percent.

Kouichi decided not to press further for now. He was already extremely sure that his current guests were connected to the Yotsuba and backing them into a corner would only serve to put them even more onto their guard.

Instead, he would let his daughters lead the conversation for now. Maybe the siblings and their cousin, Kouichi did not believe the girl to be an actual cousin of the siblings, would accidentally let some interesting information slip.

He didn't need to wait long before Mayumi started talking.

"So, Tatsuya-kun, how is school going?"

"Rather well, Mayumi-senpai, even though my ability-related grades still have room for improvement." Tatsuya answered rather shortly. He was indeed on guard against the head of their rival family, but could allow it to be noticed, especially in his interactions with his senpai and his kouhais.

"And how about you, Miyuki-san?"

"Also good. I am still lacking in theory compared to Onii-sama, but my practical grades are still acceptable." The last part was a deliberate understatement. Her practical skills were not _'acceptable'_, but _'excellent' or_ _'superb'_. Miyuki, however, would not say something so smug and instead tried being humble. This was not only due to her training in etiquette, but also due to the general Yotsuba mindset of _show, not tell_. Actually, it was more like _neither show nor tell, but if you do have to do one of them, then show_.

"Why are you two so reticent? Is something not to your liking?" Mayumi, who often had the role of entertaining the Saegusa's guests, noticed that something was wrong and tried her best to help the siblings.

However, before their guests could answer, Izumi interjected herself into the conversation. "Onee-sama, please grant Miyuki-senpai and Shiba-senpai some space. They had to deal with the recent terrorist strike and the virus as well as helping out with family business, so it is only natural for them to be a bit exhausted."

This caused Kouichi to listen up. _Family business? So, it seems like they were indeed helping the Yotsuba_ thought Kouichi.

"Family business?" He asked, believing it was time to again participate in their conversation. "Is there anything the Saegusa can help with?"

This simple question caused several different, but well hidden reactions. The rest of the Saegusa family was well aware that their father would not simply offer his help. They knew that he must be thinking about a way to further their own family's interests. But it was too late for them to steer the conversation away, so they could only ask themselves what kind of business Miyuki's family was engaged in. Still, now was not the time to ask.

Miyuki, however, had other thoughts. _Of course, the conversation would at some point reach this topic. Saegusa-dono would have steered towards the topic one way or another. Luckily, he does not yet seem to realize that I am the new family head. I am really glad Izumi-chan only mentioned 'helping out with family business', not that I inherited it. Let's see... I must make Izumi believe that I am not actually managing the business so she won't see a reason to mention it. At the same time I must formulate it in a way that Saegusa-dono does not believe me to be the new head and also ensure that he won't ask Izumi-chan. Well, I really messed up with mentioning the family business back then..._

"Thank you for your generous offer, Saegusa-dono, but we must politely decline. Our family business is currently in the hands of a skilled Manager and we do not wish to burden you with our own family's problems. It is well known within the magic community how busy the position of the family head of once of the Master Clans must be, so it would be unfair of us to further increase your workload." _This should do it._

This did seem to cause the intended effects. Kouichi took it as the confirmation that a new family head was already chosen as well as a warning to not interfere further. Izumi understood it like Miyuki had hired a professional manager. For Mayumi and Kasumi, who were not present during the conversation at first high and were totally out of the loop, this seemed like a polite refusal of the Saegusa's aid.

The rest of their meal was spent in a back and forth between Miyuki (and occasionally Tatsuya) and Kouichi. When Miyuki, Tatsuya and Minami finally left, Kouichi was left discontented. He had repeatedly tried to tell her that he would like to meet the new 'manager' but did not succeed. Miyuki left exhausted with a headache. It had costs her whole strength to obscure the real meaning behind their conversation from the rest of the Saegusa family. This was not to say that Miyuki was not tained in such tasks. It was simply that Kouichi was even more skilled than her and held an advantageous position since he could not lose in this conversation.

* * *

**Author's note:**

I am also leaving this chapter with a headache. Writing in a foreign language is hard, writing the character in a 'natural' way even harder, especially in conversations. I had to redo part of the conversations in this chapter a few times over. I believe this chapter took three times as long as Ch06.

* * *

By the way, it may be a bit confusing about who knows what about the siblings. In essence, only Erika actually connected the dots due to her conversation with Tatsuya in Visitor III. So, here is a overview:

**Aware of Miyuki's position:** The Yotsuba family, Toudou Aoba, Erika

**Aware of the Sibling's connection to the Yotsuba:** 101 IMEB, Saegusa Kouichi, Kudou Retsu, Kokonoe, few others I may have forgotten.

**Totally unaware:** Everyone else.

* * *

About the Itsuwa family: I am not really sure where I am going with this. Unlike part 1, part 2 is less planned. In fact, Ch06 and Ch07 cover what I head planned for now. But I really liked that one scene from _To Stand at the Pinnacle_ with Fumiya and Michiko as well as the story _Path to Light_, so I wanted to check if I _could_ do something similar. Of course, Miyuki will not accept this, but well, it sounds fun and I am out of ideas for this part anyway... Note that I may not actually use this.

I originally planned to write a few more chapters before uploading them, but I think I am going to upload these two already. I hope you will enjoy them.

Initially, I planned to make these chapters a surprise update for my first reviewer, but that guy/girl/... ended up asking while I was writing the chapters so he already knows. But hey, it may still be a surprise for other readers.

10


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